A Tale of two Sisters
by Clutus
Summary: [Prologue re-written] This is a Naruto fanfiction (slightly AR/AU) based around the two Hyuga sisters. When both were young did Hinata made a bet with Hanabi hoping to help her sister improve. That backfired on her however resulting in her becoming her younger sisters slave. Both are young and clueless to this topic and still family. Who knows what will happen? Rated M to be safe.
1. Prologue

_**Authors Note - 7th of May 2017:**_ Heya *waves* decided to do a re-write of my Prologue, so here it is. It's already ten months from when I started and I believe I did improve quite a lot over the time - so it's just right to show my improvements to possible new readers as well, because, honestly, more readers are always welcome ;-)

Am putting it at the very beginning of the story for egoistic reasons - though I'm leaving my old Prologue below it for comparision as well. However, I only re-wrote the prologue, meaning the following chapters aren't as good, writing-wise. I just wanted to show you my improvements, to show you how my writing turned out, that you know what it will be like once you get past the first chapters.  
So, I hope that the setting of my story is catching your intrest and that you will continue to read.

Now (it's still the prologue after all) a quick overview of the basics for this story (as of 26 written chapters and the fact it's AR/AU):  
\- Hanabi is just two years younger than Hinata  
\- it's advancing along the original timeline (Academy, becoming Genin, Wave, etc.), but the story along the way is my own  
\- scene's do cover all variety: strong emotions (positive/negative), humour, fights, storytelling, ... - it's a solid balance  
\- I guess it would be correct to say it's a Naruto/Hinata story as of now, romance-wise (even so I haven't done too much in that department yet), but I wouldn't bet on it staying that way. Sorry, can't tell you more than that. Wouldn't want to spoil too much  
\- even if the setting might suggest it, it ain't no kinky story. I'm brushing along these topics here and there, but the setting is mainly just that, the setting, the background. And it's working ;-)

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 **A Tale of two Sisters - Prologue (New Version from May 2017)  
**

Konoha, known as the Village hidden in the Leaf, is home to many powerful shinobi clans and living in relative peace. As one of the five big villages it provides stability to the surrounding countries and sends its shinobi on missions in all directions, accepting requests from nearly everyone who can afford it.

One of the more powerful clans within Konoha is the Hyuga clan. A clan that holds its old traditions high and whose members are strong in close quarter fighting. Mainly thanks to a strong visual bloodline and an unique fighting style that enables them to inflict damage to their opponents' internal organs.

The current clan head, known as Hiashi Hyuga, has two daughters, both potential heiresses. The older one, Hinata, is a kind-hearted and somewhat shy girl. Always caring for the people close to her. Having short black hair with a purple sheen to it and pale white eyes, one of the features unique to this clan because of their bloodline, made her look cute, which was supported by her shyness. Currently she is seven years old and has started training, supported by her family, two years ago. Her goal is to enter the Ninja Academy in two years and to become a kunoichi.

Her sister, Hanabi, has dark brownish hair that is slowly growing long and sports the same eyes as her sister. She is two years younger and recently started to train as well, having the same goals as her sister. That and both of them wanted to please their father, to become heiresses worthy to lead the clan, to make him proud after their mother died. Hanabi had no memories about her, Hinata's were blurry as best.

Hinata, always thinking about others first, was worried that her younger sister would have a hard time in this cruel world they lived in. That's why she decided to help her grow, to support her, to give her a reason to become stronger, to survive. Having overheard some of the adult members of the clan talking, but actually not really knowing anything about it beside what she heard, she approached her younger sister with a bet: The first to win ten times in a row during their sparring sessions would win the bet. The loser would have to become the winners slave.

Initially the more outgoing Hanabi was surprised by her sisters offer. It was the very first time that she saw her sister offering or taking a bet at all and even Hinata herself was surprised that she found the courage to actually do so. Not knowing anything about it either, but suddenly seeing an additional reason to train and become strong, Hanabi quickly agreed. At that point neither of them was aware of what they had started, of what they agreed on, nor what it would mean for their future.

In the beginning their spars were pretty even. One day Hinata would win, the next day Hanabi. Neither of them was giving any thought to being equally matched. Despite the fact that Hanabi was two years younger and had started to train only recently. And so it went on for a few weeks. Until Hanabi started to improve, making it increasingly more difficult for her sister to keep up. Easily earning winning streaks of up to five before Hinata managed to get a win in.

This fact started to worry Hinata, because she never thought that any of them would get a shot at winning their bet. But as it stood Hanabi improved quickly, displaying quite the talent for hand-to-hand combat.

Hanabi on the other side was determined to win the bet, to show her sister that she was able to become even stronger than her. She loved her sister, deeply, but as with most siblings the younger aimed to overcome the older one. And she was steadily getting closer to reaching her goal.

It went on like that for a few more weeks, until one day, around two months after they agreed on the bet...

It was close to noon on a sunny Saturday. Hanabi stood over her panting sister, her small and slim body throwing a shadow on her beaten form. She couldn't really grasp the situation, being uncertain if it really just happened, if she counted right. She tilted her head to the side, a combination of pride and confusion within her voice. "You okay, sis?" she asked worried, having hit her sister straight into the stomach with her last punch.

"Yeah..." Hinata replied panting with a small nod. "Just... out of breath..." a small smile entered her face. "You improved fast. It's really impressive, you know?"

"I... did it, right?" Hanabi asked carefully. "That was the tenth win, wasn't it?"

"At least in my count, yes it was." the older replied, trying to calm her body down by taking deep breaths after their intense sparring session.

"So... uhm..." Hanabi started, uncertain how to word it. "What do we do now? I mean, you are my sister, right?" it was then that a small blush entered her face when she admitted the next thing. "And... what is a slave supposed to do anyway? I don't know anything about that..."

"Well..." Hinata started, touching her lower lip in thought. "All I know is what I heard some of the adults talk about. A slave must listen to, and follow the orders of their master or mistress. That's all I know." she shrugged slightly.

"I see. Well... I would say we go get something to eat first." a smile was on Hanabi's lips when she offered her hand to her older sister to help her up.

Gratefully taking the offered hand Hinata got up from the ground and followed her sister towards the kitchen where they intended to get something light for lunch. So from now on she was her younger sister's slave. If she had to be honest, she wasn't afraid of that thought. In fact she was curious to learn what this actually meant. But there was one thing she knew for sure: she wouldn't back out from her bet. As a clan holding tightly to their traditions, having a statement in their clanrules to always uphold a promise, which by extension also covered a bet, she was determined to act in accordance to them.

Hanabi was in thought while they walked. She just won her older sister as a slave for life. That had to be useful for something. For what however, she didn't know right now. That was something, together with finding out what it meant to be a slave or to own a slave, they had to learn along the way while growing up. Though there was no need to hurry anyway, they were young, they had all the time they needed...

* * *

 **A Tale of two Sisters - Prologue (Original Version - if you want to compare or are intrested in how my writing started)  
**

Once the younger sister reached the age that she could spar with her older sister, did something occur. To be precise did the older sister, who knew that they were living in a dangerous world, offer her younger sister a bet: whoever of them who would loose 10 times in a row against the other sister would loose.

This bet had two goals the older sister wanted to achieve: firstly did she want to scare her younger sister by raising the ante that high. And secondly did she want to motivate her younger sister in becoming stronger, that she wouldn't suffer any bad fate in this world they lived in. After all was she a very caring girl when it came to the people close to her.

The bet said: whoever would loose ten times in a row against the other would become her sisters slave.

The first goal of this bet was reached right away, cause the younger sister was scared. But in the end accepted the bet. The older sister however didn't consider two things: that her younger sister might be stronger then herself and what being a slave might include. Being honest did she just recently hear about slaves and slavery, without having any additional knowledge about these things. All she knew was that the slave will have to listen to their master or mistress.

The older sister was 7 years young and currently attending the pre-academy in the village they lived in, Konoha, the village hidden in the leaf. She got short black/purplish hair and pale white eyes while being pretty shy by nature. That she offered the bet in the first place actually surprised both sisters. The older one for finding the courage to do so – that it was her younger sister helped though – and the younger one because that's the first time she saw her sister making a bet at all.

The younger sister was 5 years old and recently began sparring with her older sister, in preparation for pre-academy she would enter soon and of course for the ninja academy and basicly her whole life later on. Her hair was raven black and was slowly growing long, her eyes the same pale white then her sisters. Her personality was more outgoing then her sisters but she was a bit naive and spoiled, being this young and the second daughter of the clan head.

They sparred on a daily basis and the results were pretty even. One day would the older win, the other day the younger. A winning streak of three was the highest between them during the first few weeks.

Soon however did the younger sister improve quite a bit and was able to get winning streaks of up to seven, before her older sister was able to beat her. She seemed to be very talented when it came to hand-to-hand combat and the older sister began worrying. After all did she never thought that any of them would win the bet. She basicly just made it to scare and motivate her sister and planned to loose a match on purpose whenever her winning streak became too high.

But her younger sister got better every day and she had trouble keeping up with her. It was only a matter of time, before she would loose the bet she made with her sister. And she had no idea what it would mean to be a slave to her, or in general. Her younger sister didn't know either though, what it would be like to own a slave. That would be something she needed to learn over the years while growing up. And then, one day after a few months of sparring between the two...

Hanabi Hyuga, age 5, stand above her panting sister Hinata who lay down in the dirt, beaten for the tenth time in a row by her younger sister. She mustered her sister with happiness and confusion in her eyes. Happy for having won the bet of her older sister, confused of what it actually meant to own her older sister as a slave and what that meant for the future.

Hinata on the other side was worried. She never thought she would loose the bet she made with Hanabi. Now would she become her slave – and she really didn't knew what to expect from now on or what her sister would do. After all, they were just children of the ages of 5 and 7 at this moment. However, a bet was a bet and according to their clans code of honor was a bet the same as a promise: you will never break it.

"Uhm... are you allright, sis?" asked a worried Hanabi, watching her beaten sister who was still out of breath.

"Yeah... I think I am. Just... tired. You really improved fast." Hanabi smiled over this compliment by her sister. She looked up to her older sister after all and a praise just made her happy.

"Well, I won the tenth time in a row now, didn't I?" the questioning tone in her voice clearly hearable, cause she couldn't really believe that she reached the goal.

Hinata looked up to her and nodded "Yes, you did. Guess I lost our bet now. Which means I will be your slave from now on, Hanabi."

Hanabi nodded slowly before starting to speak "That's what we agreed on, yes. But... uhm... you know... what do we do now? You are my sister. What is a slave doing anyway?" she blushed slightly since she didn't knew about slaves. Hinata on the other side touched her lower lip, thinking about that topic.

"Well, I'm not too sure about it either. I only heard some adults talking about slaves when I was passing by and I only know that they have to listen to their master or misstress."

Hanabi nodded slightly and let this information sink into her mind while helping her sister up, walking together into the kitchen to eat something. She just earned her older sister as a slave, that had to be good for something. Figuring out for what however would proove to be difficult. But they were young, they had time...


	2. Chapter 1 - Setting Rules

_**Edit Note, 30th of July 2016:**_ I just went over it again, changing some of the formating - no new content or writing!

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 _ **Author Note**_ : Okay, I know the prologue wasn't that much to read and that it could be counted as teaser as best. So here's the first chapter for you. Tried to keep in mind what I was told about my writing while overlooking/refining it, but can't promise that I found all parts that needed a slight overhaul.

A little sum up of how I plan on the following chapters:  
\- chapters one and two will be building the background for my story, creating some relations between the sisters and some other characters (you may have noted Ino and Naruto as characters in the overview of this story - they do appear here. Will update the involved characters whenever I start using new ones.)  
\- starting with chapter three will there be a time skip of roughly two years (Hinata 9, Hanabi 7) to the point Hinata will start with the Ninja Academy. Time in which the relations created in the first two chapters could develop. I've planned a few things for the Academy already, but it will need time. Starting on Monday do I have to begin writing chapter two at work first  
\- since I got asked that already will I adress it here: I'm not really planning to make this a kinky story - at least not early. Firstly because I'm totally unsure if my writing would be able to cover these things up, secondly because they are young. What do young girls of 5 and 7 might know about slavery to begin with? They need to gather information on the topic at all and develop in age, mind and body.  
\- that said am I sure that there will be at least the one or other spanking as punishment. Nothing hard or extreme. Need to try out how writing these things will turn out and a spanking might be something good for a start. I can also think of stepping up the story and involved things once they get older (around late Academy/starting as Genin). But right now am I not planning to be too cruel to Hinata. Hey, they are family!

Okay, last point: since the prologue was basicly just a teaser is this officially the start of my story. I would really appreciate if some of you would provide me with feedback and your opinion about it. It's still my very first story and it would help to know where I'm standing with it.  
But for now, please enjoy the first chapter of A Tale of two Sisters!

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 **A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 1: Setting Rules**

Not much had changed yet between Hinata and her younger sister after she became her slave. After all were they just two young, innocent girls who didn't really knew what they agreed on when they made this bet.

They were always close to each other before and spent most of their time together, and this continued. Though Hanabi found it quite nice to have someone trusted who she could always talk to, no matter what topic and that she could now tell her sister to accompany her whenever she left their clan compound – which basicly was one of the biggest changes so far. That's because of the shy personality of her older sister which she often used as an excuse to not go out and stay at home. One more thing Hanabi could become used to was the fact that she could tell her sister now to do the house chores she had to do, though it was rare that she did. Only if she really wasn't in the mood to do the chores herself.

Two weeks had passed since Hinata lost the bet. It was another of Hanabi's free days and she was going to play in the city and visit a few of her favorite places. She became used to her sisters company outside the compound and liked it having her around. So she walked to her sisters room in the morning to tell her to get along today as well. Once she reached her sisters room did she barge in without knocking, like she always does, to run into the sight of Hinata currently getting dressed.  
Hinata just finished putting on a pair of simple grey trousers when she heard the door opening and turned around with an „eeep", holding her hands over her slowly growing, currently something slightly below an A-Cup, but still not really noticeable breasts to hide them. „Can't you... just knock... Hanabi?" her face was beat red, partially out of anger, but primary of embarrassment.

"Oh, common sis, it's not like we haven't seen each other naked before." Hanabi giggled, she kinda liked to tease her older sister cause she just loved her reactions. Having a shy sister might have some perks, after all.

"B-b-but it's s-s-still embarassing..." Hinata started stuttering to the situation. She didn't have much courage, if at all, and was pretty self-conscious when it came to her own body. In fact was she afraid of growing older, when her breast would start becoming noticeable by others. She knew this could happen quite quick from just one day to the next. But she was prepared for that, already having bought a large light brown jacket which would hide everything, once zipped up.

Hanabi leant in the doorframe still looking at Hinata, before sighing. "Don't just stand there and get dressed already. Wanna go into the village and want you to join me again today." Hinata nodded slightly, reaching for her bra and slight lavender coloured shirt to get dressed before following Hanabi out of her room.

"Where do you want to go today, Hanabi?" She so wanted to stay at home, but having lost the bet with her younger sister... and she's family, after all. Also nice company, so it wasn't too bad. But still...

"Oh, I'm not completely sure yet. Was thinking of going to play in the park, maybe visiting this flower shop with the cute girl, then eating something. After that..." Hanabi touched her lower lip, thinking what else she wanted to do, while Hinata let out a quiet sigh. This was going to be a long day for her.

Their first stop was at the Yamanaka flower shop. This early in the morning were there rarely any customers, but the flower shop still opened that early. Hanabi asked the owners once about it and they told her it would be out of habit. However, knowing that nobody would visit the shop that early did they usually left it to their daughter to watch over it the first hour of the day. Ino Yamanaka was a cute young girl of 7 years with platinum blonde hair put into a ponytail, with some strands covering one of her pale blue eyes and she totally loved flowers, so she didn't mind watching the shop for her parents at all. Seeing Hanabi entering the shop made her smile, waving to her excited.

"Hey, Hanabi-chan. Long time no see. Wanna chat a little? Or shall I show you our new flowers? Oh, is this your sister?" Ino started speaking right away without letting any of the sisters answer. Hanabi couldn't help but giggle. She really liked this girl being super active and, more importantly, always knowing the newest gossip. It was real fun talking to her. Hinata on the other side felt uneasy, putting her index fingers together and watching the floor in front of her feet. It's the first time she met Ino and she was overwhelmed by her presence right away. She was the total opposite of the shy Hinata.

"A bit of all, I guess." Hanabi, still giggling, pointed at Hinata. "And yes, this is my older sis, Hinata. She is giving me company when going outside for two weeks now. It's nice to have her around. But we really need to work on her shyness." her voice trailed slightly into a worrying tune, but just for a short second. "So, what's new in the village? Any cute boys out of reach by now?" Hanabi smiled at Ino while Hinata slightly blushed. Are they really going to talk about boys?

It's not like she wasn't intrested in boys. In fact had she her eyes on one special boy since one specific incident she hadn't told anyone about yet. But seeing her sister and this Ino girl starting to talk about boys without any care was kinda too much for her. What if they would talk about the one boy she is intrested in? Would she raise her voice to defend him? Or would she stay quiet? She didn't knew.

Ino was showing Hanabi around the shop, pointing to the one or other new flower they got, while they gossiped about the boys of the village. "...and just as usual is Shikamaru a lazy ass, always talking about everything being too troublesome." Ino was just reaching her all time topic, the lazy boy Shikamaru Nara which she knew since forever, being childhood friends from the very beginning.

Hanabi giggled, knowing that she had to interrupt Ino before she got too worked up about Shikamaru: "You know that you always tell the same things about Shikamaru? What about the other boys your age? I lately saw this animalistic one with his little puppy. I so wanted to pet it."

Ino was looking at Hanabi, grinning slightly. "The boy or the puppy?" she stuck her tongue out at the slightly blushing Hanabi "Well, that's Kiba Inuzuka and his pup Akamaru. Pretty louthmouthed if you ask me, and really rude. No manners at all. I even heard that he lately started pranking a few people. Think he wants to copy this blonde orphan, for whatever reason."

That got Hinata's attention. Pranks? Blonde? Orphan? Wait, he was an orphan? That was news to her. But they were really starting to talk about the boy she is intrested in. She gathered all her courage to interrupt the conversation of her sister and Ino. "Uhm... t-t-this blonde boy... what's his n-n-name?" of course, she had to stutter.

Ino was caught a little off guard by the shy Hinata entering the conversation, but turned to face her. "Well, Naruto Uzumaki from what I hear. Always running around, troubling the villagers and ninja alike, pulling one prank after another. If you ask me is he a real troublemaker and not worth thinking about." Hinata became sad by Ino's words, watching down to the ground. How could the one intresting boy be such a bad person? He couldn't, could he? She went silent again.

Hanabi and Ino continued gossiping about boys and other topics before Hanabi left the flower shop, grabbing her sisters hand and pulling her out. It turned out that they stayed nearly the complete morning with Ino and it was nearly time for lunch. Hanabi aimed for one of her favorite restaurants and ordered something for her and her sister, before sitting at a table outside, watching the more then usual quiet Hinata, before sighing. "Common sis, what's the matter? You are even more quiet then normal. Talk to me, hello." She was waving her hand before Hinata's eyes, trying to catch her attention.

"Huh? Uhm... it's... n-n-nothing..." Hinata looked away. Hanabi sighed again.

"It's not nothing, sis. Common, talk to me. I saw that you looked sad when Ino talked about this blonde troublemaker and since then are you way too quiet, even for yourself. So now tell me, what's wrong?" she was totally worried, hoping her sister would react. Seeing Hinata sad hurt Hanabi as well. After all could they speak about everything and Hinata knew that.

Hinata stayed quiet for a few more minutes and Hanabi was starting to loose her patience, thinking about a way to make her sister talk. A sly smile entered her face "Listen sis, if you won't talk to me will I simply tell you to do so. After all are you my..." she never managed to finish this sentence cause Hinata got beat red and shouted at her sister.

"NO! Don't say it!" quite a few heads turned in their direction, making Hinata blush even more. "Okay, I'll tell you. But promise you won't tell anyone." When Hanabi nodded did she inhale deeply, calming down a little. "It was... around 2 years ago. I was b-b-bullied by some boys of the village." her stuttering came slowly back, since she was afraid and embarassed talking about this topic. "They p-p-punched me... threw me to the g-g-ground... I... don't know what th-th-they wanted to do to me... and... then... this b-bl-blonde boy appeared... s-s-saving me..." Hinata's voice dropped quieter and quieter, her last words were nearly whispered when her eyes spotted a blonde boy walking down the street nearby, making her faint on the spot.

Hanabi jumped up and ran around the table to her sister. "Hey, sis. Sis? Sis! Wake up. Don't you dare faint on me. Sis?" she started slapping Hinata's cheek, but it didn't help. Several heads turned their direction again, including one blonde boy, who just shrugged to the commotion in the restaurant and walked on.

Some minutes later did Hinata slowly open her eyes, looking into the worried face of her sister, not sure what excatly happened at all. "Hey sis, you okay? Talk to me..." she wasn't just looking worried but it was also noticeable in her voice.

"Y-yeah... I'm fine... I guess..." Hinata rubbed her head, her eyes still slightly blurred. She really didn't knew what just happened to her. She was telling her sister about the incident two years ago and then... she wasn't sure. Her eyes catched something yellow in their corner and the next thing she remembered was her younger sisters worried face.

"You should go home and get some rest, sis. Just hope you aren't sick or something? Fainting out of nowhere on me... Never do that again, understood?" Hanabi was close to tears.

Hinata put her hand on her sisters cheek, stroking it slightly and nodded. "Okay, Hanabi-chan. I'll go home. But stay out of trouble without me around. Promise?" Hanabi nodded, watching her sister leave, still sitting at the table, the food completely forgotten, thinking about what her sister told her, why she might have fainted, and what to do now.

Later that day

Hanabi was walking through the streets of Konoha, searching for a specific blonde boy. She thought it couldn't be that hard to find him, but quickly learned otherwise. Each time she asked someone if they knew where to find this boy was she confronted with hate, told to stay away from this demon child. Some even called her a demon lover just because she was looking for the boy. And one man even tried to slap her face for asking about the boy. Hanabi reacted quickly seeing his hand rise by stepping back and covering her face, however, the punch never reached her cause some bystanders held the man back, realising that he was about to attack the second daughter of the Hyuga clan head. Something that would end badly for everyone involved.

These things however made her think. She couldn't understand why the villagers would call this boy a demon. Sure, it wasn't a nice thing to be on the receiving end of a prank, that was for sure. But to call someone a demon because of that? That was way too far fetched. While still deep within thoughts did she reach the outskirts of the park, seeing a blonde boy slowly walk away from it out of the corners of her eyes. Thinking that she found the boy she was looking for did she gave chase, shouting out to him: "Hey! Wait up!"

Naruto, leaving the park for his home after all adults insulted him again, tried to beat him, told their children to stay away from him, didn't really react to the shout. After all, nobody was intrested in him, so would nobody want for him to wait. This girl must be after someone else. He was a bit surprised, shocked and angry, when he suddenly felt someone pulling him back on his shirt, turning around ready to shout, to see a girl younger then himself panting hard, still holding his shirt. He wasn't sure how to react, and gave his usual words: "I haven't done anything, just let me be." He tried to pull away but the girl didn't want to let go of him. He started to become mad at the girl, realising that it was the same girl shouting at her fainted sister in the restaurant. "Listen, I haven't done anything for your sister to faint. I was just walking by. Now let go of me." He wasn't violent, but if this girl wouldn't let go of him, well, anything might happen.

Feeling that the boy was upset did Hanabi finally let go of his shirt, looking up into his face did she notice his whisker marks for the first time. "They look so cute." she giggled slightly, reaching up to touch his cheek, only for the blonde to pull away, looking angry at her.

"I don't know what you want, but just leave me alone. I'm in no mood for your games. I'm sick of being tricked and beaten all the time." Hanabi was slightly shocked by the boys words, watching as he turned around, grabbing his shirt again.

"I just wanted to talk to you. Don't just go away." Naruto turning around again saw her pleading eyes, sighing.

"Okay, fine, then talk. But if I feel like you want to trick or harm me, am I gone!"

Hanabi nodded slightly, a bit confused by this boy. Why was he so hostile? She hadn't done anything to the boy. She just saw and met him the very first time. But then remembered the villagers talk bad about him, calling him a demon. Yes, she clearly was confused. "Uhm... okay. See, I was looking for you and... well, I asked the villagers about you and they all turned hostile, calling you a demon. But why? I don't get it." Naruto wanted to instantly turn around and walk away with this topic being brought up. But when he saw the honest confusion in the girls eyes did he decide to stay.

"I have no idea. They treat me like that since I can remember. Everyone in this village hates me and I have no clue why!" He became upset, the topic not fitting with him at all.

Hanabi nodded sligthly trying to calm him down: "I think it's cool that you are pranking them. Pranking adults sounds like fun. And the way they acted... one actually wanted to hit me for asking about you... guess they deserve your pranks!" Hanabi was smiling to the boy, and it was an honest smile, actually calming Naruto down. "Plus, not everyone hates you. I know at least two persons that don't!" Her smile got even brigther and her words catching Naruto's attention.

"You are just fooling around with me, aren't ya? Like everyone else... Nobody likes me." He verbally attacked Hanabi, trying to push her a little, to find out if the girl was talking the truth and what she wanted from him at all. She was slightly pouting at his words.

"I just told you that I think you pranking the adults is cool. Don't you think that counts for not hating but liking?" she tilted her head a bit to the side, watching directly in his blue eyes. "And I'll tell you about the other person if you want. But..." she put her finger on her lower lip, thinking for a little, before continuing "...I would like to get a favor from you in return. After all, we just met and information are valueable." she smirked a little. For just being five years old was she pretty cunning at all.

Naruto pondered her a while, judging her words, her offer, if she was honest, if she wanted to trick him. He then nodded slightly for her to continue. "Okay, that's the deal: I would like for you to sneak into the library and snatch me a basic book about slaves. They are in the adults section and the people working there won't let me near it... Meet me tomorrow morning at 9 atop the Hokage monument with the book and I'll tell you."

Naruto frowned. He knew it, she wanted to trick him, to get into trouble. But, what if she said the truth, if there was really someone liking him? "Why do you want a book about slaves? It's no big deal snatching it though..." he simply asked the obvious, after all, this girl was just five years old.

She thought about it if she could tell him. "Well... I have my reasons. Let's say just out of interest, okay? Maybe I tell you tomorrow as well." she smiled again at him, waiting if he would accept.

After sighing did he nod. "Alright, see you tomorrow at 9." he headed for his home, once looking back at the girl, seeing her wave in his direction before heading home herself. He was confused, to say the least. But also quite curious and intrested in what this girl might have to say.

The next morning

Naruto was on his way up the Hokage monument, still a bit surprised that the girl hadn't tricked him. Sure, he was on his guard while sneaking into the library last night, expecting that the girl informed the adults there that he would be coming. But they weren't on alert and he easily managed to sneak in and out, snatching not just one book the girl wanted but 5, just in case she would ask for another one in the future. He wasn't exactly sure why he grabbed more, but he had time to think about that later. Right now was his mind focused on his meeting with the girl, to get answers from her.

However, when he arrived at the agreed spot, was she not there. He cursed to himself for trusting the girl, expecting to be jumped by the adults any second, that she still tricked him in the end by setting up a trap for him at the agreed spot. But again, nothing happened. He was very careful, but stayed, waiting for the girl. Half an hour later did she finally arrive, totally out of breath, standing there, her hands on her knees, trying to get air back into her lungs. She was in a hurry to reach the meeting place. Sneaking out of her home ended up being not as easy as she thought and she had to sprint through the village to get here, hoping that the boy would still be around.

"You're late..." she stiffened up, when she heard the whisper behind her, feeling something sharp at her neck.

Without moving our trying to turn around did she simply drop her head, answering quietly "Sorry. My families eyes are everywhere. It was harder to sneak out then I thought it would be...". Naruto stand there in silence for a few minutes, Hanabi not doing anything either, before he put the kunai away and walking over to a tree, sitting down below it. When she felt him moving away from her did she turn around, following and sitting down beside the boy in the shadow of the tree.

"Uhm... how did it go?" she asked quietly, not wanting to upset the boy any more. She still wasn't sure about him, why he was the way he was. But she kinda had a feeling that he was a nice person, deep down. It seemed to be the way the village treated him, for whatever reason, that he became that mistrusting and careful.

He looked over to her, before pulling out a book, handing it over. "Since everyone hates me is nobody teaching me anything either. I sneak quite often into the library to snatch books to teach myself. So it wasn't hard after all". Hanabi took the book checking over the title. "The Basics of Slavery" - sounded just like the type of book she was looking for.

She hid it away below her clothings before speaking up: "Is it really that bad? Like totally noone?" she wanted to ask about his parents, but remembered Ino saying he was an orphan. He just nodded, sighing and closed his eyes. "I still think you are cool. Not just pranking the adults, but you also got me the book. Arrigato!" Hanabi smiled at him, trying to cheer him up. After all had she no reason to hate him and he was nice to her.

And it seemed to work a little at least. Naruto took some deep breath, calming down and also brigthening up a little. "Well, yes, sure. So... you promised me to tell me about another person that doesn't hate me. Is there really one or were you lying to just manipulate me into getting you the book?"

Hanabi saw the pain in his eyes at the thought of her lying and shook her head no. "I wasn't lying. You said you were walking down the street when I was with my sister in the restaurant, the moment she fainted?" Naruto simply nodded. "You see, she was just telling me that she likes you. Told me about how you saved her around two years ago, when she was bullied by some boys. But she couldn't finish the story, because, yeah, she fainted." Hanabi was shrugging her shoulders, before looking back over to Naruto, seeing his totally shocked face.

"Your... sister? Two years.. ago? Does she kinda look like you?" his voice was shaking, trying to comprehend the information and remembering the incident two years ago. When Hanabi nodded, wondering why the boy was shaking, did he continue. "I remember that day. She was surrounded by three boys who forced her to the ground, trying to get her to appology for something. She was crying and I stepped in. I got beaten pretty badly but she managed to get away. When an adult appeared did the boys ran away and he was spitting at me, mumbling about this demon nonsense and told the girl to stay away from me. That's not how you treat someone that saved a girl..." he sighed. His whole live was disappointing as long as he could remember.

Hanabi thought about it for a moment. "I remember her guard say something about some boys picking on Hinata back then. But he hadn't said anything about you, I guess. So that's what happened, huh?"

Naruto nodded again slightly before turning to Hanabi. "So, Hinata is the name of your sister then? It's pretty nice. And what's yours?" She looked at him dumbstruck, before snapping out of it a few seconds later, shaking her head.

"Sorry, I haven't told you yet, did I? I'm Hanabi. Hanabi Hyuga. And yes, Hinata is my older sis. And hearing the rest of the story would I say that she likes you since the moment you saved her back then. But, uhm... my sis is super shy, you know? Always blushing and stuttering. The faint yesterday was a new one, however.".

Naruto listened to Hanabi, thinking about this whole situation. He knew that the Hyuga clan was pretty famous within Konoha and that this girl would most likely get in trouble for being with him. But he was happy that there was someone who didn't hate him. That was new to him and he don't wanted to loose these persons right away – though he only met one yet, but knowing about her sister helped as well. They had a normal conversation for the next hour or so, having some smalltalk, simply enjoying their company.

He then asked the one question he still had no answer for: "So, why did you want a book about slavery? You said you might tell me today." Hanabi was blushing slightly, she totally fogot about that.

Biting her lower lip did she ponder what to do now. Should she tell the boy? She just met him the day before. And after all was she not too sure about the whole situation either. That's why she wanted the book in the first place. She came to a decision, slowly shaking her head. "Sorry, but I can't tell you. At least for now. Firstly I have to read the book, and then..." she shrugged. She wasn't sure what would happen after that.

Naruto nodded, slightly understanding the girl. "It's okay. But I'm still curious, so if you ever decide that you would tell me, I'm waiting. Okay?" Hanabi nodded and smiled to the boy.

"Well, it was fun talking. Thanks for the book again. It will really help. Gotta head back home before they go crazy searching for me. See ya!" she smiled brightly, waving the boy goodbye before heading back to her clan compound. Naruto stayed under the tree, thinking about that he may have finally found someone who didn't hate him, who might become a friend. Sure, it was just one young girl, even younger then himself, but still. It felt great talking to her for this hour.

Back at the compound

Hanabi sneaked back into the clan compound, avoiding the guards, aiming for her sisters room. She entered it through the open window, seeing her sister at her desk studying. Hinata, hearing the sounds looked up and in the direction of her window, seeing her sister entering. „Hanabi... where have you been? Everyone is worried, searching for you. They thought you got kidnapped..." Hinata, still her shy self, raised her voice a little. After all did her younger sister disappear and she was worried, but couldn't do anything. That's why she tried to distract herself with studying.

Hanabi felt a bit guilty. Not because of her family, but because she made her sister worry about her. "Sorry sis... I had to do something by myself that none should know about... that's why I sneaked out..." she was looking to the ground, trying to avoid her sisters eyes. She knew that Hinata most likely cried earlier, being not able to do something for a person she cared for. Suddenly she felt Hinata's arms wrapped around her body, giving her a a big hug, holding her close.

"Never do that again, okay?" Hinata was whispering, trying to hold back her tears.

Hanabi nodded, hugging her sister back. "I'm sorry sis. I really am.".

After a few minutes standing there did Hinata let her go, sitting on her bed, motioning for Hanabi to sit next to her. "So, what have you done? What was so important to make me worry about you?"

Hanabi sat down, pondering what to say. "I met with someone who did a favor for me. But nobody should know about it or we would both get in trouble. Well, he might get more then me..." Hinata listened to her sister, wrapping her arm around her shoulder, pulling her close, holding her. "Anyway sis, you should lock your room. We have something to do that we can't let anyone know about."

Hinata looked into Hanabi's eyes before getting up, locking her door. "Now I'm curious."

Hanabi smiled at her sister, pulling the book out of the hiding place below her clothes, beckoning her over to sit back next to her. Hinata walked back to her bed and sat down, watching on the title of the book. "The Basics of Slavery? Where did you get that? Thought they were adult books?" she was blushing slightly, knowing she would now learn a little about what she got herself into after all.

"Can't tell you sis. That's what I left for this morning. Anyway, now we can read up about slaves and decide what to do, right?" Hanabi was smiling. She got kinda excited, learning what she might do to her sister. Hinata nodded and they opened the book.

However, the first chapter was a letdown right away. It was titled „Tailed Beasts – Slaves to Shinobi" and did nothing to help them. They didn't knew what a Tailed Beast was, so they skipped that chapter. Starting with chapter 2 was the book focusing on human slaves, and both girls read all they could. Hanabi pointed to a passage: "It's up to the owner how he or she wants to handle the slave. Basicly everything is thinkable, from total domination in which case the slave is only allowed to do something when ordered to a pretty free relationship between owner and slave, in which only some rules for the slave to follow are set, giving the slave pretty much freedom, as long as it's not breaking the rules." she read out loud, thinking about that and saw that her sister was deep in thought as well. So it was up to her how she wanted to handle her sister and everything seemed to be allowed.

Suddenly Hinata „eeeped" and pointed to another passage, reading out loud: "If the slave is disobeying the orders or rules given to it does the owner need to provide punishment. Here as well is everything thinkable. Some may punish the slave to the hardest for every fault or disobeying, but it is adviced to scale the level of punishment depending on the situation at hand. Small failures should only be punished small and so on. This way will the slave most likely understand it's mistakes and try to correct them, in order to avoid making big ones. Also can it be possible that the slave will feel save with it's owner, cause it does know that the owner will treat it fair and according to the own actions.". Hinata was shivering after reading this passage. What had she gotten herself into?

Hanabi read the last sentence in the punishment chapter: "For more information and details about different ways to punish please refer to our book „Punishing a Slave the right Way". Another book, huh? I wonder..." she thought about if she could ask the boy to get that for her as well.

Once they were done with the book did they discuss the things they just read about, trying to decide a way to handle the situation. "I think we should make it simple for now. I'm going to place two or three simple rules for you to follow and once we grow up more will we re-think the situation, sis. Will this work with you?"

Hinata put her index fingers together, thinking about it before slowly nodding "Yes, Hanabi. That sounds reasonable."

"Good. The rules you have to follow are one, you will always be nice to me, two you won't be having secrets before me. You will tell me everything and keep what I tell you for yourself and three you will always accompany me when I'm going outside unless I tell you not to. Think these will be good ones to start with."

"I will accept your rules, Hanabi. After all, I lost our bet and I intend to hold my side of the wager." The rules weren't too bad. Considering what they just read about the basics of slavery could it be way worse for Hinata. She knew that. But she also knew that she was just seven years old and Hanabi five. They both couldn't grasp the whole situation. Maybe in two years, when she was going to enter the academy. When they both were grown up more a little. She just hoped that Hanabi would go easy on her, being her sister and all.  
Hanabi was smiling. She felt good, having done the first step by setting rules her sister had to follow. Maybe this situation was something that might turn out good for both of them...


	3. Chapter 2 - Growing Up

_**Author Note:**_ Alrighty, here we have chapter 2. One thing I noticed myself while checking this one and starting on the third was that I avoid active thinking by telling what they are thinking. While this is a legit way to write does it feel kinda wrong just now. Will try to improve on that part in chapter 3.

So, this together with the first chapter is for building the basic background and the first relations for my story. Starting with chapter 3 will there be a two year timeskip to the start of the Academy times which will surely have differences to the original for logical reasons (Butterfly Effect, change something in the past and you get bigger and more changes as farther you advance in time - or was it the ones about throwing stones in the water and the advancing waves?). Some changes are simple, some might surprise you. But you'll need to wait to see them (still just 45 minutes for writing per day - and at the weekend am I refining the chapters for upload).

Also, there were these two guest "reviews", basicly questions, so I'll address them as well:  
1.) It's a clear "no" with a slight "yes" on being a Naruto/Hinata story. The feelings are as in the original, but the base situation is different. Will be more a kind of a Hanabi/Hinata/Naruto triangle - you'll see.  
2.) That's what you got a sister for, right? To push you in the right direction - or to be just curious about the things the other sister says. Most things are planned out already and it clearly matches inside the way I want it to advance. To write down one of my favorite quotes as answer (though I would be surprised if anyone knew it):  
"This will totally work! ... I mean, I'm mostly positive that it will work... pretty much" - Pascal, Tales of Graces f

Okay, here you get chapter 2. And again, it's okay if you don't cause I'll continue writing anyway, but it would be super nice to get your opinion and/or feedback on my story. It's still my very first one and I would like to know where I stand with it. So please review, if you feel like helping a beginner out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters – Chapter 2: Growing Up**

Hinata woke up early the next morning. She kinda had the feeling that her sister would charge into her room again and she wanted to be already dressed when this happens. The last time was embarassing enough for her and she had no intentions of letting this become the regular.

Another reason she got up early this morning was because she needed time to think. After reading the book together with her sister was a part of her quite upset about herself, for making such a stupid bet. Another part of her, a bigger one, thought that her current situation was a good one. The rules weren't that bad. In fact was she always nice to her sister in the past, so nothing changed regarding this rule. And her only secret, that she liked the blonde boy since she got saved by him, had she told her sister already. And she was able to keep other people secrets to herself. Not like this gossiping Ino girl from the flower shop. The second rule was covered as well with no change at all.

The biggest change so far was indeed the fact that she went outside way more often in order to accompany her sister. And this wasn't that bad either. At least did she meet new people this way due to her sister visiting them. She planned on befriending Ino the next time they would visit the flower shop. Beside of her gossiping did she seem like a good person, so nothing wrong with trying to be her friend.

While Hinata was still deep in thought did her sister charge into her room, without knocking again. Hanabi stopped right away and pouted, seeing her sister already up and dressed. So much for teasing her again. „That's totally not fair, sis. Why are you dressed already?" Hinata had a slight smile on her face „The last time you charged in was way too embarassing for me. That's why I got up earlier to avoid this situation." Hanabi couldn't help but smile as well. At least was her sister able to realize things bothering her and finding solutions for them. Good chances to somehow find a solution for her shyness as well.

„Anyway..." Hanabi started, slightly bouncing up and down on her feet „I want to go out again after breakfast. And you are going with me, sis. I want to check on some things and we need to talk, away from our family" Hinata nodded, knowing what topic it will be, if their family shouldn't get the chance to listen on them. „Okay Hanabi. Then let's get us some breakfast." She left and locked her room, taking Hanabi's hand and leading her to the kitchen for breakfast.

An hour later were they walking through the streets of Konoha, kinda aimless if Hinata's feeling was right. But she didn't question it, cause her little sister had this one serious look on her face she only put on if something huge was up. After a few more minutes did Hanabi start talking „Hey, sis, remember, no secrets..." her voice was pretty quiet, it really had to be something huge on her mind. „So... about your bet. I was thinking for a while now. You wanted to help me get stronger with it, right? By making the looser pay a super high prize did you want to motivate me to improve that I wouldn't be loosing." she looked Hinata into her eyes, seeing all kind of emotions in there. „You don't need to answer. I can see it in your eyes that I'm right..."

Hinata wasn't sure how to react. She was surprised that her little sister figured out the reason behind the bet. She surely is a smart girl. So much potential. „I... I'm sorry Hanabi. Yes, that's why I brought up the bet. But I thought that none of us would win it. You got strong so fast and I... I couldn't keep up with you. But it's okay. I was thinking about it myself and the situation isn't that bad for me. Yes, I'm somewhat scared. But you are my sister and I really love you. Beside, by going outside together with you am I meeting new people. I wanted to befriend Ino the next time we visit her." Hinata was smiling, a caring and honest smile. „So don't worry, Hanabi. It's really okay"

Hanabi was listening to her sister, looking her into the eyes. She could feel some tears appearing in her own eyes which she quickly wiped away, before hugging her sister. „I feel better a little. Thanks, sis." She held her close for another minute, before letting her go, slightly smiling. „Okay, listen, same bet again. If you manage to win ten times in a row are you free. So better start improving, sis!" Hanabi's worries were gone quickly and she was grinning at her older sister. Hinata couldn't help but wonder if Hanabi was simply an airhead or if she was smart and cunning. Maybe a bit of both. „All right, Hanabi. I agree. Thank you." The situation really wasn't too bad, Hinata thought to herself. It's her sister after all, it might even be real fun in the future. She gave Hanabi a caring smile before they went on walking through the streets of Konoha.

Some time later

They were still wandering around town without reaching any destination at all. Hinata couldn't help but wonder what her sister had on her mind, if she simply wanted to be outside the clan compound with her as company. They were talking about different things, mostly smalltalk. Hanabi pointed out that Hinata should start wearing more fashionable clothes which made the older sister blush slightly. They decided that they should go on a small shopping trip together with Ino soon.

After some while did Hanabi finally spot the blonde headed boy she was looking for. They went in his direction and Hanabi kept her sister distracted by talking, til the boy finally spotted them as well, looking over to them. „Hey sis, we should totally go up the Hokage Monument. The view from atop is great!" Hanabi was smiling, while pointing up the monument with her arm with a big and noticeable gesture. „Uhm, sure Hanabi, lead the way." Hinata was totally confused by her sister. First the aimless walking around the town, now the sudden decision to walk up the monument. Like a little kid without a plan. Sure, she only was five years old, but she is a smart girl. That was so not matching her...

Once Naruto spotted Hanabi walking down the street with her sister did he smile and wanted to walk over to them. He however stopped in his tracks when Hanabi made her gesture toward the Hokage Monument. Smart girl indeed. She remembered what he told her and made this move to tell him to meet up there without approaching him, saving them both the hate, wrath and what else from all the villagers around them. He had a big grin on his face, watching the two sisters walking away toward the monument.

That however turned out to be a big mistake... the villagers around him approached, directing all their hate on Naruto. „Now look at that. The demon is starring at the Hyuga princesses with this ugly grin of his." one man said, ready to punch Naruto any second. „Yeah, he will totally taint them just by looking!" one woman added, backing the man up. „Worse, he is so planning to catch and defile them. Like any demon would do!" a tall chunin added, drawing his sword. Naruto gulped and jumped up and out of the circle of villagers building around him, running for his life and into the next back alley, trying to get away from the chasing mob. He so hated how they treated him. And it would take him some time to get away, too. He hoped that Hanabi would wait for him...

Atop the Hokage Monument, 30 minutes later

„Wow, the view really is great!" Hinata was in awe, watching down on the village from atop the monument. In her seven year young life was she never up here. It was just stunning and beautiful. „Told ya, sis. I like coming up here lately. It's so worth it. And usually there are no people around, making this a quiet place to be." Hanabi was bouncing slightly up and down on her feet, smiling at her sister. She was happy that Hinata liked the view as well. This could be the place to always go to in the future, if they wanted some silence from the village or clan.

They stood there for quite some time, talking about the future. Hanabi pointed out that Hinata would enter the Ninja Academy in two years and that she needed to prepare and train a lot for that. Hinata nodded, knowing her sister was right. She can't deny that even her younger sister was stronger then her. Two years, that seemed to be a long time, but as some say, time is running fast. „Will you help me improve, Hanabi? Will you still spar with me, to make me stronger?" Hinata looked at her younger sister, who smiled in return „Of course, sis. That's the reason why we made the new bet after all, isn't it? I will totally help you!" her smile turned into a grin and she was still bouncing on her feet. She seemed to be happy today and Hinata smiled as well.

„Hey, Hanabi-chan! What's up?" a boy suddenly said from behind them. Hanabi's grin got even brighter while Hinata stiffened up. She knew this voice. Or better, she can remember that voice. This voice is... „Hey Naruto, glad you made it!" Hanabi turned around smiling at the boy, waving cheerfully. It really is Naruto, the boy she admired, the boy she liked since two years. He was standing behind her. This... this is... too much for her and she fainted.

„Oh crap!" Hanabi saw her sister loosing balance and falling, grabbing her before something bad could happen. They were standing atop the Hokage monument after all. Naruto reached the two girls only a second later, helping Hanabi to get Hinata off the cliff and laying her down below a tree in the shadow. „That's the second time she fainted... and both times were you somewhere nearby, Naruto. I guess she really likes you. I told ya!" Hanabi giggled at the slightly blushing Naruto. „You think that's funny? She's your sister. What if she fell down just now?" Hanabi paled at Naruto's words, just realising that they in fact really were close to the edge when Hinata fainted.

Out of instinct did she pull her sisters head in her lap, gently stroking her hair. „I'm sorry, sis, I really am sorry. I haven't seen the danger. But all's good now, you won't fall." she whispered soothingly in her ear, hoping that her sister would hear her in her fainted state. Naruto smiled at this sight, realising that he envied them for being so close. If only he had a family... „By the way Hanabi-chan, nice move to tell me coming up here without anyone else to notice it. I understood it right away." Hanabi continued stroking her sisters hair and looked over to Naruto. „If you understood, why were you that late? I was worried that you wouldn't come and was nearly on my way back down to search you once again."

„Well, the villagers may have not understood your message to me, but they saw me looking at you two. They said stuff like 'the demon will catch and defile the Hyuga princesses' and started chasing me through the village again. Think they tried to kill me this time, if the sword-swinging chunin was anything to go by..." his voice became quieter and angrier with each word he said, while Hanabi started frowning. „That's... just ridiculous. What's the problem of these villagers?" Hanabi was upset. Like totally. Sure, Naruto was pranking them, but from all she understood was he hated even before he started the pranks. It just didn't made sense to her.

„Sorry if you got in trouble because of me..." Hanabi looked down on her fainted sister, still stroking her hair, feeling guilty that Naruto was chased around town today. „Nah, it's okay Hanabi-chan. I'm kinda used to it..." Hanabi felt even more emotions that moment, but Naruto continued before she could say anything. „Beside, I'm really glad I became friends with you. You are the first friend I ever had. I'll cherish that for life, believe it!" he was smiling brightly. „So, why did you call me up here? Wanted to introduce me to your sister? Though I doubt this would work right now. Or decided to tell me about your intrest in the book I got you?" his smile got even brighter, though he would be fine if Hanabi just wanted to hang out with him. He was just glad for his first friend in life.

„I can't tell you about the book yet. But I wanted to ask if you could get me another one?" she tilted her head a little, watching Naruto. „And I wanted to introduce you, yes. But... seems really to be difficult right now." she couldn't help but giggle, still stroking Hinata's hair, wondering how long she would be out at all. Naruto frowned a bit „Another book? Let me guess, again about slaves? Seriously, why are you that intrested in this topic? It's like you would own one yourself." Naruto watched into the sky while talking, missing the slight blush on Hanabi's cheeks. „Uhm, well... I really can't tell you. But... if you would help me again?" her voice was pretty quiet. Looking at Naruto once more did she pull a piece of paper out of her pocket, handing it to Naruto. „Okay, let's see. „Punishing a Slave the right Way"? Uhm..." he was raising an eyebrow at Hanabi, shaking his head lightly. „Well, I guess I can snatch it for you but I would like you to do me a favor in return."

Hanabi nodded, waiting for him to speak on. „You see, because everyone hates me is it hard to live here at all. Most shops don't even let me in and the ones who does totally overcharge me for everything. That's so annoying!" he sighed, trying to calm back down after he got himself upset while talking. „So if you would do some purchases for me, that would be great!" he smiled at the girl which in return looked pretty shocked at him. „They... do what? But why? This doesn't make any sense... I really don't get why the villagers do treat you like that..." she was shaking her head in disbelief. „But sure, we can do that for you. I mean, if my sisters decides to wake up that is." Hanabi's eyes went down to her still sleeping sister who had snuggled herself a bit deeper into Hanabi's lap.

„I'm sure she will be awake soon, don't worry Hanabi-chan. And thanks!" he was smiling again, pulling two pieces of paper out of his pocket, handing them over. „My shopping list and my address. Meet me there in three hours, okay?" Hanabi took the papers and nodded, watching while Naruto left. After a few minutes did she decide to slap Hinata lightly on her cheeks, trying to wake her. „Hmm... don't want to get up..." Hinata was mumbling, snuggling ever deeper into Hanabi's lap. „Common sis, get up already. You dreamed enough for now. We have some purchases to do." Hinata slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes. „But the dream was soooo nice." she yawned slightly before finally standing up. „Well, okay, then let's go, Hanabi." both smiled at each other before they left.

„Troublesome..." could be quietly heard from the other site of the tree, were a lazy black haired boy laid behind the bushes, watching the clouds. „That's so troublesome..." he yawned and focused back on the clouds. He heard the whole converstation between the Hyuga girl and the blonde prankster. He just wasn't sure yet what these informations might be good for.

Three hours later

The two sisters approached the apartment Naruto lived in with Hinata carrying the shopping bags. While they were shopping for his stuff did Hanabi explain what he told her to her sister, who was just as shocked to hear what had happened to the boy his whole life. Hinata couldn't understand the villagers at all. After all was this boy so kind and cute and... she blushed. „Oh common sis, if you blush every time you think about him and faint in his presence, how will you ever become stronger? Or tell him that you like him?" Hanabi sighed at her sister. She really wanted to help her, but this might proove to be pretty hard. Also it might have slipped her mind to tell her sister that she already told Naruto about the way Hinata felt for him.

When they got near the appartment did they look around if nobody was paying attention to them before heading for his door and knocking. It took some while before the door finally opened, Naruto carefully watching outside, before brightening up to see the two sisters. Hinata was close to be fainting again, but got slapped across the cheek by her sister. „Don't you dare faint on me again, sis. Pull yourself together, will ya?" Hinata, shocked about her sisters action, rubbed her cheek and nodded slightly. „Okay... I'll try..." she looked down at the ground, trying to pay no attention to Naruto cause she expected to faint as soon as she focuses on him. Naruto was a bit confused what just happened there, but didn't waste a second thought on it. „Well, come inside before anyone notice. I don't want any of you getting into trouble because of me." They nodded and entered his appartment.

It was a small one, consisting of only a living room with a small built in kitchen, a sleeping and a bathroom. And it was... everything but cleaned. He grinned at the faces the two sisters made, seeing the state of his appartment. „See, I don't really get visitors, so I barely bother cleaning up." His words made sense, but still... „I won't be coming again if you don't clean the next time, got that?" Hanabi was the first to get out of her shock, before pulling her sister towards the couch and sitting down. „Anyway, we got the things you asked for." Hanabi motioned for Hinata to put the bags she was carrying on the table in front of them. „Wow, thanks a million!" Naruto got super excited and hugged first Hanabi, then Hinata, who was on the brink of fainting again, before getting another slap from her sister, combined with a glare at her. „Sorry, Hanabi..." Hinata deep breathed, calming down slightly. „I'm good now."

After putting the purchases away did Naruto sit down across the table in front of the girls. „Really, I'm thankful that you bought me these things, believe it! Now I can cook me a few proper meals without worrying about anything. So..." he grabbed into a bag next to his chair and tossed a book on the table, in front of Hanabi. „That's the one you were asking for, right?" Both girls leant forward a little, reading the title. Hinata was blushing a dark red while Hanabi nodded. „Yeah, that's it. Thanks. But how did you get it that fast and then during the day at all?" she was tilting her head to the side, looking at Naruto who just grinned.

He put his hands behind his head, rubbing it slightly. „See, funny story. When I went to get you the first book did I, for no reason really, snatch the one or other additional book. Thought you may come ask for more, so, yeah..." he was a bit flushed when Hanabi started to giggle. „Uhm... y-you asked... Na-Naruto-kun to g-get these b-b-books?" it was Hinata who spoke, her head being crimson red. Hanabi looked at her sister before answering. „Sure sis. After you told me about him got I intrested. And remembering Ino saying that he is pranking the adults did I figure he would be able to get the books as well. After all, it's basicly just a prank." Hinata was breathing deeply, trying not to faint again. He might have got the books for her sister, but he isn't knowing anything, right?

„You still won't tell me, Hanabi-chan?" seeing the blushing Hinata got him again intrested to know why the young Hyuga wanted these books about slavery. She simply grinned at him before answering „Nope, not a chance!" sticking her tongue out at Naruto did she pick up the book from the table to got started on it's contents. The book was build up in a logical order, from slave punishments starting with pretty simple and low ones, like just scolding or small spankings, over denying them some freedoms or a meal up to... Hanabi paled, eyes open wide in shock, not moving at all. That got Hinata and Naruto worrying and they both were at Hanabi's side in an instant trying to get her out of her shock. Hinata pulled Hanabi close, gently stroking her hair and whispering soothing words into her ear.

Naruto on the other side wanted to find the source of her shock, picking up the book and looking over the page Hanabi had open. His eyebrow raised and his mouth twitched, before he read out loud. „In order to set an example with other slaves is it common use that an owner might remove a limb or even kill a disobeying slave, to keep the other slaves in line." Hinata paled as well, hearing that but continued stroking her sisters hair. Naruto was confused as hell, closing the book. „Seriously, why is she intrested in stuff like that?"

Seeing both girls in this distressed state Naruto got up and went into his kitchen, getting them both a glass water. Knowing basicly nothing how to interact with other people or how to treat someone in this state, a glass of water sounded like a good idea to him. Both girls took the glass thankfully and devoured the water, calming down slightly. Hanabi finally was able to think again, mumbling a low voiced „Disgusting" before shivering and snuggling slightly into her sisters embrace. They sat there for some minutes and Naruto just watched in silence, not wanting to disturb them in this situation.

After another ten minutes had Hanabi recovered enough to stand up from the couch. „I can see why these books are for adults... anyway, thanks Naruto. For everything." He smiled at her „No problem at all, Hanabi-chan. After all, we are friends, believe it!" his smile got even brighter and Hanabi smiled in return, nodding. „Oh, before you go, there was one book I grabbed I think was misplaced there. It's titled „Raising Pets". Want to take it as well?" Hanabi was thinking about it while hiding the first book below her clothes. „Hmm, let Hinata take it. She's more a friend of animals then myself." Naruto nodded and got the book from somewhere in his apartment, handing it over to a slightly blushing Hinata who held the book close to her chest. „Th-thank you... N-Naruto-kun." After bidding their goodbyes were the girls on their way back to home, planning to calm down even more. The contents of the book really hit their minds.

Hyuga Compound

The way home happened in absolute silence between the sisters. Both of them thinking about what was written in the new book they got. To say that Hinata was scared would be an understatement. She had thoughts running through her head, that her sister wouldn't be that cruel to her. They loved each other and got along quite well.

Hanabi on the other hand thought about that these things were just disgusting. Who would cut a limp just to proove a point? But then again were they living in a cruel and dangerous world and judging by how the village treated Naruto for basicly no reason there would be people who would cut a limp to proove a point. She however wouldn't. Especially not to her sister.

They sat down together in Hinata's room, finally talking about it. The outcome of this talk was simple: both stated their opinions on the things they recently learned and that they absolutely disagree with these things. Also that they would continue the way they decided already anyway, with Hinata following the three set rules and having all freedoms beside them.

Once these things were settled followed a quite normal day for them. They ate lunch together, sparred during the afternoon with Hanabi winnig by a long shot. They both thought about how they could get Hinata to improve, but couldn't come up with a solution for now. But there were two years before Hinata would enter the Academy, so nothing to worry about yet.

In the evening was Hinata alone in her room, preparing to go to sleep. After changing into sleeping clothes did she decide that she would read a little before finally sleeping. Remembering the book Naruto gave her this day she took it out of her bag and started reading. „Raising Pets", a nice book with tips about raising a pet, that's something one could read in the evening. That's what Hinata thought at least. The book was split into three sections: Raising Cats, Raising Dogs and Raising Ponys. She always liked cats so she went straight for the first chapter and started reading.

It didn't took her long to realise that this book wasn't placed with the slavery books by mistake. No, it fit there real good, to be precise. It detailed on how to raise humans as pets, specifically as cats, dogs or ponys. She started blushing and that increased up to a dark crimson red. When she felt like fainting did she put the book away, to be precise did she hid it in the deepest corner of her room. She felt slightly aroused, but mainly embarassed. She wouldn't touch this book for a long time – best would be to hide it forever that nobody will find it.

A few days later

Hinata was on her way to the Yamanaka flower shop. After all did she still plan to befriend Ino. And doing so by herself, without her sister around, would be a good start to somehow get over her shyness. She was nervous but determined. Even before entering could she already hear the voice of Ino from the inside. „Can't you just once stop being such a lazy ass? I'm not having all day, you know, Shika?" Ino was quite upset at the black haired boy somehow bothering her inside the shop. „Troublesome... My mother told me to pick something up over here. But I don't know what exactly..." „Because you were too lazy to even listen to her. Seriously, I don't understand you at all – oh, hey Hinata-chan!" Ino waved over to the entrance where she saw Hinata enter the shop, totally ignoring that she just scolded her childhood friend. „Ino, you are so troublesome..."

„Uhm, h-hello Ino. I w-w-wanted to talk to you if t-th-this is okay? B-But you seem b-busy right n-now." it was indeed hard to overcome her shyness, but she tried. „You mean him? Just ignore him. Shikamaru is too lazy to be intrested if you pay attention or not. And he won't know what he wanted to pick up here at all for the next 30 minutes or so. So don't worry, I'm free." Hinata was smiling slightly wording a silent appology in the boys direction. „Just troublesome..."

„So, what do you need Hinata-chan? Want to talk about cute boys?" Ino smiled at the blushing Hinata, leaning against the counter. „What? No!" Hinata turned crimson red, but at least stopped stuttering for now. „I came over because I want to befriend you. I wanted to ask you to be my friend." Ino touched her lower lip, pondering the request, but smiling inwards. „Now that's kinda sudden, don't you think Hinata-chan? I don't know what to say now." Ino barely managed to hide the grin that was slowly approaching her face. Hanabi had spoken to her some days ago, telling her of her sisters plans. And she couldn't help but tease poor Hinata. Though it was more then teasing. She tried to push her a little bit, to boost her confidence, to see her determination.

„Please Ino! I really want to have you as a friend. It... it will help me grow! You get along with my sister, so why not with me?" her voice started to shake a little and if you watched closely could you see a small tear building in her eyes. Ino decided to stop the teasing cause Hinata had shown her determination. She went over to the normally shy girl and hugged her tightly. „Hey, it's okay. We are friends. No need to get upset." Hinata snuggled into Ino's embrace and nodded slightly, wiping the tear away. „That means a lot to me, Ino. Arrigato." she was whispering, but it was grateful. She did her first step and she did it alone.

„Girls, so troublesome..." Shikamaru stood at the site, waiting for the girls to finish. „If you are done already, I need to get this bouquet for my mother." Ino glared at Shikamaru, before moving behind the counter to charge him. „You know that this was just rude? This was something important to Hinata-chan and you interrupted it and say it's troublesome. Seriously, you are lazy and rude." Shikamaru just shrugged and paid for the flowers. „You really are troublesome. I won't understand you at all." Backstepping from a punch Ino aimed at his face did he simply turn around, leaving the shop.

„It's always the same with Shika... I sometimes really wonder why we are friends." Ino sighed after Shikamaru left. „Uhm... but isn't it a good thing to have different personalities among your friends? I mean... uhm... like Hanabi and me for example?" Hinata asked quietly, unsure of herself. Ino watched her a moment before smiling. „Guess you're right, Hinata-chan. So, now that you did what you came for... I think we wanted to talk about cute boys, right?" she grinned and Hinata blushed, shaking her head no. „M-maybe another t-t-time!" and there came her stuttering back again. It really was a long way to go.

After bidding her goodbyes to Ino was Hinata on her way back home, but got stopped right outside the shop by the black haired boy who just left moments ago. „Hey, you are the Hyuga heiress, right?" Hinata stopped and turned to the boy, nodding. „Uhm, yes, I guess. And you are..." „Shikamaru Nara. Ino and I are friends since forever. See, I just wanted to tell you that I got to listen on your conversation atop the monument few days ago. The one between you, your sister and the blonde boy. Well, mainly your sister and the boy." Hinata blushed, remembering that she was blacked out most of the time up there. „So, uhm... what do you w-want then?" „Hmm? Oh, nothing really. Just wanted to tell that I got to listen to it accidently cause I was cloud watching on the other side of the tree behind the bushes. I mean, I know how the villagers treat the boy and all and I think it's nice that you befriended him. Won't tell anyone either, no worries. Would be too troublesome. So, yeah, see ya." he waved lazyly before heading his way home, leaving a slightly confused Hinata behind.

Shikamaru seemed to be a strange person, but she was the one talking about having different personalities as friends being something good. Maybe she should try to befriend him as well. There must be more to his lazyness – at least does he seem to be a nice one. So her next step of loosing her shyness and getting stronger was decided. It would be a long way, but she would make it. With the help of her sister and friends, she was sure about it...


	4. Chapter 3 - The First Day

_**Authors Note:**_ Well, hi there again *waves* I hope I have a nice treat for you today. It's called "the next chapter" *giggles* okay, that joke was lame. Anyway, a few things to notice before the chapter will start:  
\- after getting feedback on the way I write (again, I blame the way I learned to write in German) did I try to change the format of this chapter slightly to make it easier for you to ready. Meaning my brackets are slightly more split when another person starts talking. If you managed to reach this chapter and worked yourself through the first ones, thanks. Hope you feel like this is slightly easier to read.  
\- speaking of talking I tried to correct the "speak" thingies while overlooking the chapter. In German it's down in the front and up in the back and it's auto-corrected in our writing programs. Never thought about it. But I tried to correct it into the English way this chapter.  
\- speaking of "speak" did I try to add some active 'thinking' into the text. It felt kinda right to me, but I'm still not happy all together with it.  
\- uhm... I hate to admit it, but I kinda felt insecure when I reached fighting scenes (yes, there is fighting scenes inside, more or less) and kinda chickened out of them. Please don't hate me for it. It's still my first story and with that my first tries on writing different things at all.

I think I promised you some surprises inside this chapter, some smaller and expected, some bigger. Hope you don't feel let down.

I think that's all I have to say for now. Oh, no, one more thing: I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish the next chapter by next weekend. This one turned out a bit longer then the ones before and I had it barely finished on Friday when my break was over. I'll give it my all, but I just can't promise to give you a chapter every weekend. Sorry...

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 **A Tale of two Sisters – Chapter 3: The First Day**

Hinata was excited. Two years have passed since she made her bet with her younger sister and so far did her life become better for that. She was now 9 years young and had improved quite a bit due to her regular sparring with her sister. She still wasn't near the talent her sister possesed and far away from winning the second bet to release her from being her sisters slave, but that was okay. Cause til now was there nothing bad about it. If anything at all was she even closer to her sister then before and she made some friends she might have never met if not for the fact that she was accompanying her sister.

And today was the day she would start in the Ninja Academy. Yes, she was excited about it. During the past two years did she manage to reduce her shyness by a bit. Sure, she still wasn't as outgoing as her sister, but she was far away from where she started. Her stuttering was reduced to only be there if she had strong emotions of any kind and it's been months since she fainted the last time around Naruto. Yes, life was good to her so far.

Her body also had developed a bit and that's the only point she had problems with. She still felt unsecure when it came to her body and the fact that her breast were growing faster then other girls her age didn't made it any better. That's the only point her sister wasn't able to change her behavior til now.

When Hinata got dressed this morning did she put a huge grey-brownish jacket over her clothes in an attempt to hide her body. She knew her sister would scold her again for that, but it was her first day at the Academy. There was no way she wouldn't wear her jacket.

After biding her goodbyes to her father and sister at the door who told her to be safe and pay attention was she on her way to the Academy. However, she didn't made it far without incident cause as soon as she turned around the first corner on her way was she stopped by a boy with long brown hair and eyes the same as hers. "Neji-nii-san? What are you doing here?" It was her cousin, Neji Hyuga, son of her fathers brother. They kinda got along and he was family, but there were times she just couldn't stand him, whenever he started talking about destiny and how life already decided everyones path.

"You shouldn't go to the Academy, Hinata. You are too weak for it. You won't fit in there. Go back home." of course, he just had to ruin her day. Just because he was one year older and also was in the second year of Academy was there no reason to tell her something like that. After all, she was sparring with her sister and imrpoving. It's been a long time that she actually sparred with him.

"I'm quite capable of becoming a ninja, Neji-nii. And I will become one. You won't stop me, no matter what you say!" Neji was a little surprised hearing this but he didn't show it. When did she learn to talk back?

"Whatever. Just don't get yourself killed on the first day." he walked away toward the Academy, leaving Hinata behind. She stood there for a few minutes, trying to calm down and breath deeply, before returning her way. No, she won't be down because of her cousin. It was unpleasent, yes, but it won't pull her down. Not today. After all did she look forward to his day for quite a while now. She wasn't her old, unsecure self anymore which would be down by these words. She changed and in a good way too.

When she arrived at the Academy did she still have time left before the day would start. Once inside and getting information which room was assigned to the new starters this year did she aim for it, stopping in front of the door to the classroom. It was quite noisy inside and she took a deep breath. While she made quite some progress with her shyness felt she still uneasy with too many persons around her. But there was no helping it. She opened the door and entered the room. "Hey, Hinata-chan, over here!" the moment she entered was she spotted by her friend Ino, who called out to her and waved frantically. Hinata was relieved to see her friend in the classroom, at least one person she knew. Walking over to Ino did she take the seat next to her, smiling slightly.

"Morning Ino. I'm relieved you are here. I was worrying that I would be in class with noone I know." Ino gave her a reassuring smile.

"Well, it's not just me. Shika is here too, though he seems to sleep again that lazy ass." she was pointing to some seats away where a black headed boy was sleeping on his desk. Yes, that's definately Shikamaru. Hinata smiled.

"So, did you hear any rumours? Anything intresting about the Academy or the new students?" Hinata became slightly intrested to gossip by being friends with Ino for two years. And Ino always had the hottest informations.

"Well, actually, yes. There are some rumours going around. It's said that your blonde prankster, Naruto, will also start Academy this year. But I guess he isn't here yet or we most likely would have heard someone scream in anger already by one of his pranks."

Hinata blushed slightly, smiling at Ino's statement. "Naruto-kun will be in the Academy? I'm so glad."

Ino gave her a big smile. "It's just a rumour so far, but considering that he is our age is it quite possible. Hanabi told me that you got your fainting around him under control?" Hinata just nodded, still somehow distracted by the thought that her crush would be in the Academy as well and with this in her class.

"Yeah, anyway, there is another intresting rumour. It's said that there would be an early starter this year. I don't have any details, but it's not impossible to start being younger then 9 years. It happened a few times already." Now that got Hinata's attention.

"Really, someone younger then us will start this year? I wonder who this person might be. Guess it must be a super talented child from one of the big clans. Or maybe a lone genius from an unknown family?" she always had a thing for underdogs, trying to improve and show everyone what they are capable of. Being one herself and all and having a crush on Naruto, the number one underdog in the village for still unknown reasons. Seriously, why is the village hating him? She shook her head.

"Also, the last of the Uchiha clan is in our class too." She was whispering, trying not to catch the attention of said Uchiha. Everyone knew about the massacre that killed his whole clan. Since then was he silent and introverted, kinda in his own world, not paying attention to anyone. The girls seemed to be intrested in him though, but if you asked them couldn't they answer why, just saying things like "He's so cool!". Hinata acknowledged this information, but wasn't paying too much attention to it. After all, her eyes were set on another boy.

"I also got some informations on our teacher. Seems like we are getting a chunin who lost both parents 9 years ago when he was a child himself. I really wonder if someone like that can teach children..." Ino sounded slightly worried and Hinata nodded to this information. Really doesn't sound too reassuring to her. While they were wondering could screams be heard from the floor, before the door was quickly opened and closed and a blonde boy wearing a black t-shirt quickly entered the classroom and hid to avoid the wrath from his latest victims. "And here we have the number one prankster of the village. I told ya he would be here, didn't I?" Ino looked at Hinata just to realize that she indeed wasn't fainting, but spaced out with her thoughts on Naruto. Sighing did she slightly slap her cheeks, bringing her back to reality.

"You know, Hanabi told me to slap you painfully if you dare to faint or space out here in school. She doesn't want you to fall back to your old self. So... now that I informed you will the next time be more painful." She expected Hinata to be shocked by this information, or at least surprised, but the reaction she got surprised herself, when Hinata simply nodded.

"I understand, Ino."

Blinking her eyes a few times did she shook it of. 'Did Hinata just simply acknowledged that I will slap her whenever she tries to faint or space out?' She wondered if something was wrong with Hinata, but dropped that thought.

Naruto was on his way to the back of the classroom to take a seat in the last row, passing by Ino and Hinata. "Hey Hinata-chan, glad you are here as well. And that's... uhm... I know your name too. Let's see..."

Ino frowned. "Cut it, Naruto. You know my name just fine. But if you do something like that do I start to understand why the village is hating you." Naruto just grinned and walked on. It was so simple to tease Ino. But he made a mental note to not overdo it. He still hadn't much friends and he don't wanted to loose just a single one because of his actions. Hinata simply smiled the whole time, having blushed again being close to Naruto. But true to her words, she hadn't fainted at all.

After some while did someone enter the room. He was wearing the typical chunin outfit that could be seen quite often around the village, containing of green pants and shirt with a green flak west above it. The most noticeable about this ninja would be the scar slightly above and across his nose. "Alright everyone, settle down please. Good morning. My name is Iruka Umino and starting from today are you all officially students of the Academy and I'm your teacher. There are of course others who will teach you too, but we will spend most of our time together." Looking around the room did he recognize quite a few kids from different clans of Konoha.

'Okay, let's see what I got here. Blonde hair, blue eyes, must be a Yamanaka. That's a Hyuga girl next to her, hard to miss these pale white eyes. A sleeping black head? Nara I guess, Shikaku's son if I'm not mistaken. Chubby boy with brown hair, Akimichi for sure. Red face markings, dog atop the head, clearly an Inuzuka. And there, shaded glasses and a trenchcoat, guess an Aburame. Oh, seems like I got the last Uchiha as well. And the blonde prankster. This will be indeed an intresting class with nearly every important clan present'

"Alright, listen up. Before we are getting started do I need to announce something. Some of you might have heard the rumours already and I can only say that they are correct, we will have another student in our class, an early starter." Now that got the attention of the whole class, even the emotional cold Uchiha paid attention. Well, the whole class except for a sleeping black head. "Okay, you can come in now."

The door to the classroam opened and in walked a slender girl of around 7 years with slightly above shoulder length black hair and pale white eyes. Ino's and Hinata's jaws dropped, looking at the girl with disbelief. Most of the class seemed kinda curious about that girl, while some had angry looks and a few others simply stayed neutral.

"You must be kidding us. There is no way that a girl like this can be an early starter. Just look at her. No muscles, way too slim body, there is just no way!" it was the boy with dog atop his head who shouted out while the girl walked next to the teacher, looking over the class.

Iruka looked on a name list he had brought with him, before speaking. "Kiba Inuzuka, be quiet. You should have learned to never judge someone by their appearence." the boy growled but shut his mouth. "Now, do you want to introduce yourself?" he was addressing the girl at his side, who was bouncing up and down on her feet due to excitement.

"Uhu..." she nodded, smiling at the class and waving in the direction of Ino and the slightly blushing Hinata. "Hey sis!" getting quite some confused looks from the other kids, before she addressed the whole class. "Okay, I'm Hanabi. I'm seven years young and I'm starting Academy with all of you today. And while I think that the dogboy was rude do I like his puppy. It's so cute." she giggled when the boy growled again while his dog gave a happy bark.

"Good Hanabi. Now please take a seat. You can sit by your sisters side if you want." he pointed on the empty seat in the row where Ino and Hinata were sitting and Hanabi nodded before heading there, giving her sister a hug before sitting down, getting a few looks of the boys in the class. They couldn't believe their luck having two beautiful sisters in class.

After taking her seat did she lean over to her sister, whispering "Hey sis, I thought I told you to not wear that jacket. I don't like it if you are covering your body like that. That's a step back to your shyness."

Hinata was blushing, whispering back to her. "But... I knew here would be so many persons around me. I just... don't wanted..." she bit her lip, becoming silent. Realising that the mood was going down did Ino decide to enter the conversation, whsipering as well.

"Say, Hanabi-chan, why haven't you told that you would start with Academy this year as well?" she was totally curious. Hanabi was normally talking about everything, but this topic never left her lips. She looked over to Ino and grinned.

"That was Naruto's idea. He said it would be a great prank to surprise you two with that. And, honestly, you should have seen your faces when I entered." she stuck her tongue out at Ino, before turning her head to the front, finally paying attention to the things their new teacher were telling. Though most were boring things about how the Academy worked, so nothing important they missed with their conversation.

"Okay, we will now start with Academy for real." that were Iruka's words just now, so they really missed nothing important. "To start off will we go outside and hold a few sparring fights that we can judge how good your Taijutsu, or hand-to-hand combat, is. Since we have several kids from clans here in this class do we want to see, how far you got with your training, that we can better judge your progress and see what we need to focus on. This way can we also see how good or far the non-clan children are."

"This is so going to be fun!" Hanabi giggled, while Ino and Hinata looked worried. Evaluation fights on the first day? They weren't prepared for that.

The Academy's training field  


"Listen up, each of you will get one fight. Only Taijutsu is allowed. If I stop a fight it is over. We won't allow any of you to suffer life threatening wounds, so nothing to worry about. Any questions?" Iruka looked around his new students.

"Yeah, me!" the boy with the dog, Kiba Inuzuka, spoke up. "Can I get the little girl as opponent?" he was grinning, seeing a possibility to proove that this girl don't belong here.

'Now that's what I would call a troublemaker. And here I thought I might get most problems with the prankster of Konoha, Naruto Uzumaki, oh well...' Iruka looked over to Hanabi, who was just smiling back at him, before sighing. "Well, I guess... I see no problem with this pairing. If none of you mind can this also be the first match."

Kiba grinned ferally while stepping forward. "Hey, Akamaru, I can handle this alone so get yourself a break, partner." His dog barked in confirmation before jumping of his head and walking over to where Hinata was standing, sitting down at her side. She smiled and petted his head.

Hanabi also stepped forward on the training field, placing herself opposite of Kiba, still smiling and started to slightly bounce up and down her feet again. She looked relaxed and happy. 'Heh, your expression will change really fast, little girl. I'll show you' Kiba's grin got even wider then before.

Iruka just sighed. This would end badly, that one was for sure. "Okay, if both of you are ready? Then begin." When he gave the starting signal did two things happen. One was Kiba suddenly charging forward with high speed, the other Hanabi closing her eyes. 'What is she doing? Guess I need to stop the match right away' Iruka was thinking fast, but before he could intercept did something happen he hadn't expected. The still bouncing Hanabi sidestepped Kiba's attack without even opening her eyes.

Hinata was shocked at first when her sister closed her eyes, but now knew what she was doing. She couldn't help but giggle, before taking the small white puppy up in her arm. "I'm sorry little one. But it seems like your friend will be beaten up by my sister." Akamaru barked in confirmation. "Huh? You knew that would happen?" she petted the dog who barked again in confirmation. "Poor boy. Being played with by my sister..." she giggled again and focused back of the match. Ino was also wondering what were happening there, having listened into Hinata's talk with the puppy and being not any wiser.

Iruka needed a moment to understand what was happening. But then made his head the connection. 'Cocky little girl. I hadn't expect her to have so much control. But it makes sense. She didn't told them she was a Hyuga, though it is noteable by these eyes of her. But who knows if these children know about the power their eyes possess. Smart move, but still cocky' he relaxed, watching the match further, expecting Hanabi to win without problems against Kiba.

Meanwhile Kiba had real trouble with Hanabi. It wasn't like she would attack or hit him, no, she was simply bouncing up and down on her feet with closed eyes and dodging each and every attack he tried on her. He was down on all four by now, pumping chakra in his limbs to further increase his speed. This fighting style was famous with the Inuzuka clan due to their similar traits to dogs and wolves. Another reason why they are fighting alongside dogs at all. But even with his increased speed was he still unable to hit Hanabi.

"What the...! Stop dodging you little..." Kiba became angry but all Hanabi did was grinning slightly, still bouncing with closed eyes. That enraged Kiba further and he decided to go all out against that girl. There was no way she could be this good. He grinned at her. "Okay little girl, last chance to give up... and over! Now deal with this! KAZUGA!" he shouted before sending his body in a spinning rotation, creating a kind of maelstrom around him, charging at Hanabi. The attack wasn't perfect yet, but it should be enough to finish off a seven year old girl.

Hanabi was surprised and finally opened her eyes, entering a fighting stance. She could tell that this attack was critical. There were only a split second of time and everything happened fast. None of the watchers even realized the change in the attitude of the girl. When Kiba got close did she again sidestep to dodge the attack, but also did one punch aiming for his shoulder cause this would be the first part of his body in her range and this was the part of the body she needed to hit in order to deflect the attack.

Her punch connected and Kiba startied struggling in his rotation, loosing direction and hitting face first in the wall surrounding the training field of the Academy. Relaxing and closing her eyes again did Hanabi breath deeply, to calm herself down. Yes, she was toying with this boy, most of the fight. But he was strong, she had to become serious for his last attack.

"Serves you right for insulting me, dogboy. Though I have to say, your last attack was something. Oh, hey little puppy!" she crouched to pet Akamaru, who jumped down from Hinata's embrace and ran over to Hanabi, giving her a happy bark. "I think he deserved it. You aren't mad at me, are you?" Akamaru barked again and snuggled into Hanabi's touch. "Thanks. Now go, your friend needs your care." She smiled, watching Akamaru walk over to the knocked out Kiba.

"Well done, Hanabi. I got to say your control over your Kekkei Genkai is quite something. And saving your energy by just dodging and not attacking was a smart move. Kiba got angry and made mistakes, leading to his defeat. This is a working way to fight, class. Now Hanabi, would you please show the class your Kekkei Genkai?" Iruka explained, before addressing Hanabi directly.

She pouted. "Why do you have to spoil all my fun by telling them? No fair, sensei..." her behavior more then a little childish, though she is only 7 years old. Talented and smart, yes. But still a young child. Iruka smiled gently at her before addressing Hinata.

"Well, Hinata, if you would be so kind to show the class? And maybe explain as well?" Hinata blushed with all this attention but then nodded slightly, closing her eyes and activating her Kekkei Genkai, the Byakugan. Opening her eyes again was the first noticeable change the veins visible at the sides of her eyes.

"Uhm... you see, we from the Hyuga clan posess a Kekkei Genkai, or Bloodline. Our eyes are special and it's called Byakugan." despite the attention did she manage not to stutter so far. "We can see basicly everything around us within 360 degree when it is activated and... STEP BACK!" she shouted suddenly, surprising everyone.

Following her shout did a blonde boy in her back do a dodge backward, avoiding a punch of the black haird boy he sneaked up to. It was Naruto trying to pull a prank on the emotional cold Uchiha who in return sensed him and wanted to knock him out with one punch. It was Hinata's warning that saved Naruto for now, even so she normally wouldn't be able to see this situation, if not for her Byakugan. Naruto was grinning. "Thanks Hinata-chan."

Iruka rolled his eyes before addressing his class. "While I do not tolerate pranks during my classes do I have to say that this was quite a good demonstration of the Hyuga Kekkei Genkai. Naruto and Sasuke were in Hinata's back but she still saw what was happening there. Though, I never saw a Hyuga fight with closed eyes. Hanabi, care to explain?"

Hanabi was still pouting, but nodded. "I'm not an early starter for nothing, sensei. The vision is blurry if you use the Byakugan with closed eyes. That's why basicly all Hyuga fight with opened eyes. But with enough feeling for your own eyes can you overcome the blurryness and clearly see even if your eyes are closed. That's quite useful if the area or opponent is threating to hurt your eyes. But it's rare that one of us has enough feeling, or so my father said at least." she shrugged. "Anyway, the dogboy deserved that for insulting me."

Iruka nodded slowly in understanding. "I didn't knew that about the Byakugan. Even as teacher can I still learn new things." he smiled, but mostly got annoyed looks from his students. "Anyway, there should be a few more Kekkei Genkai's in our class. Or at least things that come close to them, so called clan traits. The beast traits of Kiba over there for example. They aren't a real Kekkei Genkai, but they are close. It's something only the Inuzuka clan inherits here in Konoha."

He wasn't really planning on starting with Kekkei Genkai on the first day. In fact wanted he to postpone the start for teachings in general til next week and use the first week to learn more about his students and their talents. But since it came up with the first sparring right away, at least were his students listening to this topic.

"Anyway, there are lots and lots of different Kekkei Genkai's existing. Some are more common then others, some became super rare or even vanquished because whole clans got killed during the past wars. Sometimes does it need time before it awakens inside a host, sometimes it's active from birth. It's a complex topic and we might cover it later, but for now..." he smiled at the attention he got from his students. And that right on the first day. That's a new and unbeatable record in the Academy.

"I think we went a bit away from our topic at hand. I remember starting with sparrings to see how good all of you are with Taijutsu." A part of his class was frowning. They hoped he might have been distracted enough by the topic change to forgot about the sparrings. It's easier to just listen then being active themself and kids tend to be lazy these days. Iruka knew that as well and he was teacher for quite some years now. He knew how kids minds worked – at least on a general basis.

"Alright, since you two already tried to start something, will you be the next ones. Naruto, Sasuke, please step forward for your match." Naruto was grinning while stepping forward, getting several glances and glares, some whispering as well. His reputation as prankster was well known and the fact that basicly the whole village hated him also transfered to his classmates, with a few exceptions of course.

He became good friends with Hanabi and Hinata during the last two years and even befriended Ino who was often around the two sisters. Shikamaru was okay as well. He started sometimes hanging out with them after Hinata nagged him about becoming friends for some while – okay, honestly all she did was ask him just once about becoming friends, but that was enough for him to be considered nagging. It was always troublesome to him to spent time with others. At least did they got along.

"Why should I bother? You won't land a single hit..." Sasuke's voice was kinda bland and cold, while he stepped forward. Many of the girls watched him with love filled eyes.

"I'm so going to beat you!" Naruto was grinning at Sasuke and charged forward as soon as they got the starting signal. He tried to end it quick, aiming a punch right at Sasuke's face. Sasuke on the other side simply waited for his approach, sidestepping the punch and in return delivered a kick into Naruto's stomach who went down to the ground. Sasuka placed his knee at Naruto's back, pinning him to the ground.

"Okay, that's enough. Sasuke has won. Quite a display of speed and strength. Well done, both of you." Iruka noted the results and called the next few spars. Naruto walked back toward his classmates and stood next to the two sisters and Ino.

"Not bad, huh? I was close to winning!" he grinned at the girls, getting some weird looks in return.

"You call that close to winning? He kicked your ass without even trying!" Ino answered, glaring at Naruto.

"Well, either did Naruto hide his power, or he really is bad in close range." Hanabi pondered about what she observed just now.

"You okay, Naruto-kun?" Hinata was worried, but he just smiled back at her and nodded.

After a few more spars was it now Hinata's turn. She was paired against Shikamaru, which both weren't too happy with. Hinata doesn't want to hurt a friend and Shikamaru found it troublesome being paired against a girl. Both stepped forward and Hinata entered her fighting stance, while Shikamaru looked lazyly in her direction. "Troublesome... do I really have to fight now?" Iruka rolled his eyes and nodded, before giving the sign to start.

Hinata was still worried, but charged forward to attack. She knew that her sister was watching and that she should show how she improved so far. However, what then happened was unexpected for every watcher. Shikamaru did a step backward, most likely to avoid Hinata's charge, and tripped over his feet, falling to the ground. "Troublesome... hey, sensei, I can't move my ankle. I'll give up." Hinata stopped mid-charge and looked worried at Shikamaru how gave her a small smile.

Iruka sighed and nodded. "Alright. Winner is Hinata. Just you know, Shikamaru. If this was just a ruse to avoid the battle will this have consequences." Shikamaru nodded and was thankful when his close friend helped him up to escort him to see a nurse.

"Well, we don't have time left for today, so I'm closing the day. The remaining spars are postponed til tomorrow. You can go home now." Iruka left his new class and thought about the things he saw today. There were clearly some surprises and he was sure that this years starter class would be an intresting one.

Outside the Academy

"Well, guess this was an intresting first day. See you tomorrow Hinata-chan, Hanabi-chan!" Ino waved her goodbye and headed in the direction of her home and Naruto left as well having a grin on his face, leaving the two sisters by themselfs. They realised that he wasn't going home yet. Both of them started to walk back to the clan compound after this first day at the Academy.

"Hey, sis." Hanabi started speaking, her voice total sweet and Hinata started sweating, fearing the worst. "I think I told you that I don't like you wearing that jacket. And then did you spoil my fun and talked about our Kekkei Genkai. That wasn't nice at all." Hanabi was smiling at her sister, but Hinata could feel that this was just show. She knew that she will be scolded once they reach their home and are away from prying eyes.

"S-sorry Hanabi... but Iruka-sensei asked me to explain. So I answered. And it seemed like he knew about the Byakugan so if I hadn't answered would he have simply explained." Hinata looked down at her feet while walking. "And it was the first day of Academy. I was worried. That's why I took the jacket..."

Hanabi sighed. "We'll talk about that once we are home." she was now smiling honestly. "Did you see what I did with that dogboy? Served him right for insulting me!" she couldn't helpt but giggle and Hinata also started smiling a bit. Yes, all considered was this first day not too bad. They also talked about the other matches which weren't that intresting at all. "It's just too bad that Shikamaru threw your match. I would have loved to see how you would did against somebody other then myself, sis."

"He... gave up? I thought he really hurt his ankle..." Hinata looked confused at her sister, a bit worried but also a bit reliefed, if Shikamaru really wasn't hurt.

"Yeah, he sure did. Tripping while backstepping? Not really believeable. He is just too lazy to fight if there is no good reason. Plus I don't think he wanted to fight you." Hanabi pondered the situation and nodded. "He faked that injury, I'm sure about it."

"Oh, I really didn't notice. But I'm glad that he is okay." Hinata smiled. When they finally arrived at home did Hanabi motion for her to follow and they headed straight at Hanabi's room. Once inside sat Hinata down on a chair while Hanabi walked up and down her room in thought.

"You see, sis, I'm really disappointed. How often have I told you to not wear that jacket? It's a step back to your shy self, if you hide yourself behind that jacket." Hinata looked at the ground, but could feel that Hanabi was concerned about her. And really disappointed.

"Uhm... quite often, Hanabi..." Hinata answered quietly. Hanabi sighed before nodding slowly. She touched her lower lip in thought and looked at her sister, thinking about what to do.

"I guess I should scold you again, but... since that doesn't seem to help..." she walked over to where she hid the books she got from Naruto two years ago, grabbing the one about punishments and sat down on her bed, flipping through the first pages.

She looked into the book from time to time over the last two years. That had two reasons. One was that she was just curious, reading over the possible punishments again and again. She still was disgusted by the extreme ones written down in the second half of the book, but growing up got she more and more confortable with the minor ones in the first half. The second reason was that Hinata wasn't improving too quick to win their second bet, meaning she wouldn't be released from being her slave too soon. So she needed to be prepared, just in case her sister would need something more then a scolding, like today.

She found the page she was looking for and read it over, while Hinata wasn't too comfortable right now. 'I hope Hanabi won't be doing anything too bad to me. We are family, but... I know I disobeyed her by wearing the jacket over and over again...' Hinata sighed and waited for Hanabi to speak up.

Finishing the site did she motion for Hinata to come over to the bed and Hinata followed, standing next to Hanabi. "See, sis, I really don't want to do that, but... well, we just talked about it. I told you over and over again to not wear that jacket but you are still wearing it when going outside. All family connections aside is our relationship different then others, so..." she sighed and pulled Hinata down to her, laying her across her lap.

Hinata was surprised by that action and didn't reacted. "I'm sorry, sis..." Hanabi whispered before bringing her hand down on Hinata's ass. It didn't hurt much, considering she was wearing all her clothes, but she was totally shocked by that action of her younger sister. Hanabi continued to spank her a bit more til she reached 10 hits before laying her hand flat on the spot she just hit.

"I want you to think about what happened today, sis. What you did and what I had to do because of you. Don't disappoint me again, okay?" Hinata got slowly up and nodded, still shocked from the action, before sitting down next to Hanabi on the bed. "You can stay here to think or go back to your room. I don't mind. I'm going out again, sis. Alone..." Hinata nodded again while watching her sister leave, staying on the spot of the bed. She not only had to think about today, but also about the last two years and the future that will come...

Early evening in the village

Hanabi was sitting on a bench near the park, thinking about what had happened today as well, just like she told Hinata to do. 'I... I really spanked her. I know I had the right to do that, but... she's still my sister... what was I thinking?' her mind was really troubled by her actions and she was unsure how she should handle this situation, or if she could look her sister in the eyes again after that. She felt guilty and she knew that this feeling was legit.

While she was thinking about it did she hear shouts and screams that seemed to get in her direction. When looking up did she see the source for it: Naruto was running down the street and was followed by some angered shinobi, most likely Chunin. When he spotted her did he change direction, running down the street she was sitting at, and tossed her something small in her lap while he was passing by. She waited til the pursuers had passed her as well before picking up the small thing. Looked like an earpiece of a radio.

Placing it in her ear did she hear Naruto's voice. "Hey, Hanabi-chan. Where's your sister? You are rarely out alone and... argh... they are serious this time. Mind if you could help me out here? I'm having trouble to get away this time." Hanabi shook her head to get out of her thoughts, realising what Naruto just asked her. She got comfortable on the bench and closed her eyes, activating her Byakugan and keeping her eyes closed. She started to whisper, for an onlooker would it seem like she was sleep-talking or something.

"One group is coming at you right in your front. They even put an ambush to the left. Turn right at the next crossing." Naruto was following Hanabi's directions, trying to get away. "Uhm, you see, I... had an argument with Hinata after Academy, and... I don't know... I might have done something bad to her... next crossing left."

Hanabi was trying to get Naruto's opinion on the matter that troubled her without giving him too much information, while still watching his surroundings and giving him directions. Naruto turned left at the next crossing. "Don't worry, Hanabi-chan. You got along well all the time. She will surely forgive you. You are so close to your sister, I even envy that. Wish I had siblings, or a family..."

"But still... I wasn't nice to her today... I fear she might hate me now..." Hanabi sighed before being at full attention. "They are waiting at the next crossing and the way you ran is closed as well. Into the next alley on the right side. Inside turn left, right, then double left and right again to get out without hitting a dead end."

"Thanks for the warning. I would have ran into them if it weren't for you. But I will repeat myself, whatever you did, she will forgive you, I'm sure of that." Naruto was running through the alley, following Hanabi's direction and he was totally thankful that she guided him right now.

"I... Uhm... I might have... hit her..." her voice got quieter from word to word and Naruto could hear her doubts about what she did, but couldn't really place it. "Uhm... once you are out turn right and the next alley on the left."

"You hit her? That happens all the time during sparring. Nothing to worry about, believe it!" Naruto left the alley he was currently running through and quickly crossed the street to disappear into the next alley.

"It... wasn't during a spar..." Hanabi whispered, her voice barely noticeable anymore. "Seems like you got away. I'm not seeing anyone on your tail anymore." Hanabi deactivated her Byakugan, put kept her eyes close, still thinking about what she did to Hinata. Would she really forgive her?

"See, girl, here you are wrong." a third voice entered the conversation, startling both Hanabi and Naruto, before Naruto let out a muffled noise and the voice spoke again. "I'm not sure who you are girl, but it seems like you know where the boy and I are currently, considering you just guided him to get away. So you better get over here now."

"O... okay..." Hanabi sighed and got up from the bench, heading toward the alley she guided Naruto through. 'I'm sure there was noone around him anymore. I haven't seen anyone. He should have been save. Now we are both in trouble I guess...' Hanabi sighed again, entering the alley.

There stood a shinobi with white spikey hair and a mask covering half of his face and his headband was lowered to cover one of his eyes. He held Naruto in front of him, having a hand over his mouth that he wouldn't scream. Something Naruto wouldn't do anyway, since nobody would care to help him. That much he learned during the years.

"Now that's a surprise. You are a Hyuga. No wonder you were able to guide him via radio. However, you made one major mistake. Oh, if you don't try to flee will I let go of you now." he smiled down at Naruto who just nodded. He was used to being beaten all the time so he thankfully accepted that offer. Even so he was caught wasn't he beaten yet, so anything was fine to go along with that.

"And what mistake was that?" Naruto asked, stretching his body a little after being held tightly. "All I did was snatching the two radio earpieces and telling the shinobi that their training wasn't enough to catch me. I don't see any mistake in that." Hanabi just stood at the side, listening, waiting to be addressed, waiting for her judgement.

"Well, your mistake was to only take two of them. It's common that four of them are put together on the same frequence that a normal team of four can communicate over greater distances. So once I heard what you did, is all I had to do get one of the remaining earpieces and listen on your conversation. As you can see, I caught you by that." he white haird shinobi was still smiling. Naruto was unsure what he should think about him.

It was Hanabi speaking next, looking shocked. "So... you heard... what I told him?" she blushed and tried to hide her face.

"Uhu. And I do recognize you, Hanabi Hyuga. Iruka told me about your match at the Academy. Really impressive. But what was that about hitting your older sister? I couldn't exactly place that information." he was still smiling, sending a shiver down Hanabi's spine. What was wrong with this guy?

"I... don't really want to talk about that. I can't..." Hanabi shook her head.

"So I shouldn't tell Hiashi either? Not sure if I can, after what you just did by helping this little prankster over here." Hanabi was shocked by that. If her father would knew...

"Hey! She had nothing to do with it. Leave her alone!" Naruto shouted, sending an angry glare in the direction of their captor. He was ready to protect his friend, no matter what. The man just smiled at that declaration.

"Well, I honestly just wanted to see how the prankster is like and who his friend might be, that's really all. And don't worry girl, Hinata will forgive you. She is just a kind hearted nature. No matter what you did. Anyway, I got to get going. We will meet again, that I'm sure about." he gave them a small wave before pulling out a book and walking away, reading.

"What... a strange guy. Hey, Hanabi-chan, you alright? Common, cheer up. Everything ended fine and I'm sure Hinata will forgive you." Naruto pulled Hanabi into a hug who slowly got out of her shock.

"I hope you are right, Naruto. I really do..." she breathed deeply, calming down. "Well, thanks for listening to me. I should go home now. See you tomorrow at class." she gave him a wave and headed home while Naruto went in the direction of his appartment. Both of them were not aware, that the white haird shinobi was still watching them.

"So that is Naruto Uzumaki, the prankster king of Konoha. And he is at least friends with the younger Hyuga. That might get intresting. I'm looking forward to their improvements." he mumbled to himself before placing his nose back inside his book.

Hinata's room late at evening

Hinata was sitting at her desk, reading a book. Some hours had already passed since what happened between her and her sister and she took the time to think about it, just lika Hanabi told her to do. She was mainly shocked when her sister gave her the spanking. It hadn't hurt at all, but it was a shock either way. She had never guessed that her sister would do this to her.

On the other side is she her sister's slave since two years. It was her right to do this because she disobeyed many times by wearing the jacket even so she was told not to do so. 'I'm not improving fast enough. I'm not even close to being able to win against Hanabi. From what she showed today is it more like I'm getting farther away from catching up to her. I maybe need to accept that whole situation. I need to accept that I became a slave. But...'

She got out of her thoughts when she heard a knock on her door. "Come in, it's open." she said turning to watch the door open, seeing Hanabi enter her room. The girl looked kinda distressed and Hinata walked over to her to give her a hug.

"I'm sorry sis, for today I mean..." Hanabi whispered. "I shouldn't have done that to you. I... don't know what I was thinking. Can you forgive me?" she looked her older sister in the eyes, tears forming in her own.

"Of course, Hanabi. You did nothing wrong. I... thought about today, just like you told me. And you were right to do so. I should have listened to you. I should have obeyed your order to not wear the jacket. It's all my fault." Hinata held Hanabi close to her, gently stroking her back. "And I realised that I'm not even close to your level. I'm far away of winning my freedom back, so..."

Hanabi pulled herself back a bit, looking at her sister with slight surprise in her eyes. "Sis... do you mean..." 'She can't be saying what I'm thinking she is going to say. There's just no way!'

Hinata nodded. "From now on I'm going to accept every order I get from you. Every punishment you see fit if I disobey. I'm... accepting being your slave. It's two years already but you went easy on me. Your rules were nothing hard and I appreciate that, I really do. I also hope that we will still be sisters. Just like we used to be. We always got along so well. But I now fully understand the situation I got myself into with my bet and I will take my responsibility on that."

Hanabi was shocked and didn't knew what to say. Not only that her sister was not stuttering a single time during that announcement, she wasn't even blushing. She must have thought about that quite intense and made up her mind. "Okay sis, I understand. I will... take care of you. I love you, sis."

"I love you to, Hanabi." they hugged each other.

"No big jacket tomorrow!" Hanabi smiled.

"I understand, no jacket tomorrow" Hinata smiled back at Hanabi. "Good night."

"Good night, sis." Hanabi left her sisters room, heading toward her own. What both didn't knew was that just til half a minute ago a boy stood at the door and listened into their conversation. He actually wanted to appologize to his cousin about his behavior in the morning but stopped when he heard the sisters talking. Neji wasn't sure what to do with these information he just heard...


	5. Chapter 4 - Adventure!

_**Authors Note:**_ Somehow managed to finish this chapter for this weekend... I lost a whole writing day this week cause my vitals took a critical hit by the heat and I actually needed my break to... well... "recover"...  
So, sorry if the end might seem a bit rushed at some point, cause that's basicly what I did on Friday, rush the end. I'm not sure if my follower count for this story is high or low, considering it's my first time here on this page at all, but I wanted to give you this new chapter again at the beginning of the weekend.

I also got a silly idea for the future while I wrote the end of this chapter - but I'm a bit unsure if I'll work it in or not. I wouldn't mind talking about it though - so if you feel like my story really got you intrested and has potential and you would like to get some insight into my head and help me sort this idea out or refine it, feel free to contact me (but please read this chapter before, that I don't need to explain everything. The idea is related to the end of this chapter).

What else... I personally think I'm not really creative. Some might argue that I'm writing and stuff, but *shrugs* the next chapter will show how creative I really am I guess. Just hope I won't loose writing time again for whatever reason next week. So, on to the new chapter. Enjoy! - and if you feel like it, tell me your opinion, 'kay?

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 **A Tale of two Sisters – Chapter 4: Adventure!**

Naruto was on his way to the Academy. He was still upset that he was caught after his prank the day before, even so he came away without any sort of punishment. That white haird Jonin sure was some strange fellow. Smart enough to figure out the one mistake he made, of which he didn't knew he made it in the first place. Then by that mistake catching him, forcing Hanabi to get there as well.

The part he was most upset about was the fact that he also caught Hanabi helping him. And then threatening her to tell her father and getting her in trouble. Naruto cared about his friends and getting one of them into trouble was the last thing he wanted. And what was Hanabi talking about? She hit her sister and feared she would be hated now? He had to find out what was up with her today.

He was stopped on his way however by a gang of boys he quickly recognized as being in his class. When he looked them over did he recognize them from somewhere else too. They were the boys who were bullying the young Hinata four years ago when he stepped in to save her, when she, according to her younger sister, fell for him. Not that he would have talked to Hinata about that. He knew her shyness quite good and wanted her to bring it up by herself.

But right now had he to deal with this group. "Hey, you are Naruto, right?" one of the boys started speaking. "See, we were talking and we decided that you can become our friend if you do something for us. Or, more precisly, if you suceed in a little test of bravery."

Naruto was at alert. These boys never talked to him after the situation four years ago and he was sure he saw angry glances at him during class on the first day. However, he hadn't much friends beside the Hyuga sisters and Ino, so it would be nice to have a few more. "What kind of test do you have in mind?" he asked curious.

"There was a small skirmish in the northern forest yesterday. Some enemy shinobi tried to sneak into the village but were stopped by a patrol. All you have to do is go there and find an item that belong to the enemy shinobi and we will take you into our gang. You will become our friend and can hang out with us."

"Really? Great, I'll get you an item, believe it!" Naruto was turning on the spot and sprinted in the direction of the northern forest. While he doesn't really liked these boys for what they did to Hinata was he more thrilled of gaining a few new friends.

"Why have you done that? We don't want him as friend." another boy asked the leader, slightly annoyed by what was just talked.

"My dad was on that patrol who fought the enemy shinobi. He told me that they are most likely still around. And since he was chasing Naruto through the village yesterday after another of his pranks is this now payback. If we are lucky will he get himself killed in the forest and the whole village will be happy. Nobody likes him anyway." the leader just grinned.

"That's why you are our boss. That's brillant!" yet another of the boys said.

"Just remember, if anyone is asking, we don't know where he is. We never saw him today." the leader laughed while the group headed towards the Academy.

Hyuga Compound

The mood between the two sisters was back to normal this morning, after their discussion the last evening. They had breakfast together and spoke about random things, like they always did. Once they left home was Hinata doing what she promised her sister: she let her jacket at home. She was now wearing a simple black shirt and looked around a bit bashfully once they reached the outside.

Hanabi tried to cheer her up. "Hey sis, there is really no reason to be embarassed. You look beatiful and if others are looking do they realize that as well. And as long as you don't try to hide will you not get too much attention anyway. So really nothing to worry." she smiled at her older sister who tried to stay calm.

"It's just... well... have you seen the other girls in our class? I'm far more developed then them and that makes me feel uneasy..." Hinata tried to argue, but got stopped by her sister.

"Don't be like that. Just don't think about it and everything will be fine, sis. There is really nothing to worry abo- huh? Is that Naruto?" Hanabi got distracted while talking, seeing a blonde boy running down the street to the northern part of the village. "That isn't the direction of the Academy. And I don't think he'll prank again already, after he was caught yesterday." putting her finger on her lower lip did she think about what happened the last day and why Naruto would be heading north.

"Naruto-kun got caught? I hope nothing too bad happened..." Hinata was worried about her crush.

"Nah, everything turned out okay. Some weird Jonin caught him but didn't do anything to him. I'll tell you about it later. Let's follow him for now. Common sis!" Hanabi was already running in the same direction Naruto headed for, before Hinata was following her.

They catched up to Naruto around ten minutes later, when he was standing in front of the northern forest, unsure what to do now. They casually approached him and Hanabi started talking. "Hey Naruto, what are you doing out here? The Academy is in the other direction." she giggled slightly.

Naruto turned around, seeing that the two sisters had followed him. "Hanabi-chan, Hinata-chan, why are you here? You should be in the Academy already." A part of him was glad that his two friends were there with him, another part wished for them to be somewhere else, cause he don't want to get his friends into trouble again.

"We saw you running north and thought something was wrong, so we followed..." Hinata said quietly. You don't needed to be a genius to see that she was totally worried about Naruto and he appreciated that.

"You see, I was on my way to the Academy when I was stopped by these boys of our class. You know, the gang that is always hanging around each other. They said I could become their friend if I would pass a test of bravery for them. That's why I'm here."

"A test of bravery? What kind of test?" Hanabi tilted her head to the side, watching Naruto curious. "Beside, you never talked to them before at all. Sounds fishy to me, if I'm honest."

Naruto nodded slightly. "Yeah, I know. But I would like some new friends, so... anyway, they said there was a skirmish inside the forest yesterday. I shall get them an item that belongs to the enemy shinobi and they'll accept me as a friend!" he was grinning, confident that he would find something.

"But... what if they are still around?" it was the worried Hinata again, finding the idea of visiting a battlefield pretty bad.

"Then we run back home of course. Plus, with us around will we able to spot shinobi from a great distance, sis. After all, our eyes are awesome." Hanabi giggled. "Okay Naruto, any idea where that battlefield might be? The forest is not the smallest."

"Yeah, it shall have been near the village. I've an idea where it should be around. Will us take not more then five minutes to reach it. But you sure you will come along?" it was Naruto's turn to be worried about the sisters.

"Sure. You are our friend so we can help you search. And with our eyes can we even provide some safety. No reason why we shouldn't tag along. And Hinata isn't having a choice here, right sis?" Hanabi grinned at a slightly blushing Hinata who simply nodded. Naruto raised an eyebrow at that declaration.

"Okay, seriously, what's up between you two? I'm wondering about that for two years now and you still haven't told me." he was still curious about the whole situation, starting with the books about slavery and the way the sisters sometimes talked to each other, but they never told him at all.

"Sorry, but that's a secret!" Hanabi stuck her tongue out at Naruto. "Anyway, are we going now?" she pushed both Naruto and Hinata forward into the forest. Naruto simply sighed while Hinata started shivering slightly. She had a bad feeling about this.

At the Academy

Ino was sitting next to her best friend, the pink haird girl Sakura Haruno, who just like everyone else recently started in the Academy. It was still time before class would start, so they talked about different things.

"Say, Ino, I realized that you spent much time with the two Hyuga sisters lately. Are you trying to exchange me as your best friend?" Sakura asked, staring into Ino's eyes.

"Huh? Why do you think that? You know that Hanabi-chan dropped by at the flower shop regulary and then one day introduced me to Hinata-chan. There is nothing wrong with making new friends, you know?" Ino looked into Sakura's emerald green eyes, slightly amused by her best friend. 'She is so jealous that I'm spending time with other girls then her. Never thought I would see that happen.' she giggled to herself.

That got Sakura slightly upset. "What? You think I'm unable to make new friends myself? And what is it with you and that Naruto? I saw you hanging out with this troublemaker a few times. Sasuke is way cooler then that untalented boy."

Ino blinked a few times at that statement. "Untalented? You really think that? I mean, sure, he's hated by the whole village for some unknown reason and always pranking them. But you rarely hear that he is being caught. I wouldn't call that untalented, when he is able to outrun and get away from Chunin and partially Jonin chasing him. And he's much more open then Sasuke. Common Forehead, Sasuke barely even speaks any word."

"I told you to stop calling me that, Ino-pig! And just look at Sasuke, he's just cool. And way mature then Naruto." her eyes drifted over to where Sasuke sat at his table, watching out of the window, like he always does.

"Well, yeah, whatever. Anyway, speaking of Naruto and the Hyuga's... they aren't here yet. I'm not surprised that Naruto isn't here but Hanabi-chan and Hinata-chan? They are always on time. I really wonder..." Ino changed the topic cause she knew that Sakura would just continue to talk about Sasuke if not stopped. And she was really worried that her friends weren't at class yet.

"I don't know, I haven't seen them today. And I don't really care either. If they don't want to attend class is that none of my problems." Sakura pouted for being cut of from the Sasuke topic. But it was always like that with Ino, so she was okay with it, knowing her best friend since they were little.

When Iruka entered the classroom did Ino walk over to her own seat and sat down, looking at the two empty seats next to her. She was really worried that both sisters weren't at class.

Iruka watched around the class realizing that there were three empty seats today. 'Okay, I kinda expected from Naruto to be not around. I heard he got caught after a prank yesterday. He really is a troublemaker. But the two Hyuga sisters aren't here either? That's surprising.' he thought before adressing the class.

"Good morning everyone. Before we start today, Ino? You are friends with both Hanabi and Hinata, right? Do you know where both of them are?"

Ino shook her head. "No, Iruka-sensei. I'm wondering about their whereabouts the same as you. It's so not like them to not be on time. I honestly am a bit worried."

"Hmm, I understand. That really sounds worrysome. Does anybody know something about the whereabouts of Naruto?"

"Haven't seen him today." the leader of the gang of boys said grinning, knowing quite well that he sent Naruto somewhere he most likely will die today.

"Troublesome..." Shikamaru was mumbling into his arms, his head resting atop of them on his desk, like the previous day. At least wasn't he sleeping this time. "Naruto and the Hyuga girls are friends. So if all three of them aren't here will they be most likely together, wherever they may be."

'I hope Naruto is no bad influence for the girls. I wouldn't want to explain to Hiashi why his daughters became troublemakers themself.' Iruka thought to himself before speaking. "So, Naruto, Hanabi and Hinata are missing today, they are most likely together and none has any idea where they might be? Now that's a perfect second day in school." Iruka sighed and started his class.

"Hey, you think we should tell him? If the girls are there as well, I don't know... they are cute and all..." one of the boys of the gang was whispering to his leader.

"Nah. If they are stupid enough to hang out with the child nobody likes is it fine if they die as well." the leader still grinned while answering.

Somewhere inside the northern forest

"Wow, that place was harder to find then I thought. Look at that, everywhere are blood stains and shattered equipment. So that's how a battlefield looks like, huh?" Naruto looked around, both girls standing behind him.

"Seems that way." it was Hanabi talking, her voice a bit shaky, thinking about how many might have died here. "Can you spot anything foreign? Looks all like Konoha stuff to me on first sight."

"Hmm, hard to tell... we might need to search a bit around to find something. How are we going to work on it?" Naruto asked kinda hyped being out here where a skirmish happened not even 24 hours ago.

"We don't know if there are still shinobi around here. Naruto, you start searching the normal way. Hinata, you will help him with your Byakugan. I'll check the surroundings for any other person using my Byakugan. The faster we are done here the better." Hanabi gave the orders and all of them started right on their task. She may be young, but there were some reasons why she already started Academy with her age.

Naruto was searching through the remains that lay scattered around the area, but couldn't find anything that wasn't made in Konoha so far. Hinata looked around the trees and up in the branches with her Byakugan, searching for anything out of place while Hanabi was scanning the surrounding area for any approaching danger.

"I... think there is something... up in the birds nest on this branch." Hinata said quietly while pointing up a large tree. "I'm not totally sure, but it kinda looks like a kunai but it's shaped a way I haven't seen before."

"Alright!" Naruto shouted excited and started to climb up the tree right away. While he tried to get up there and with Hanabi still busy checking the surroundings walked Hinata over to some things laying next to another tree and crouched down to collect one piece and quickly hide it in her pocket. If she had to come out here did she wanted to at least get a souvenir of this adventure. That seemed quite logical to her, that a souvenir of each adventure would be something good for her shy nature.

While they were busy with their tasks did three shinobi some distance away watch the three children searching the battlefield. All of them were completely masked except for their eyes, hiding quite good all features of their bodys and faces. "What are these children doing there? Scavenging the battlefield? Or are they searching for what we are looking for?" the first of the shinobi spoke, the voice kinda deep but definately female.

"I don't think that children would have any knowledge about it. I guess they are simply scavenging after hearing what happened here." the second shinobi answered, the voice again female. Looking over to the third shinobi did the second frown. "Seriously? Common, put your bingo book away. They are children, there won't be any bounties on them."

The third shinobi looked up with a slight smile on the lips and addressed the second, the voice again clearly female. "Well, and here you are wrong. Look at the girls. Or more specific at their eyes. Are they familiar to you? Well, they are to me. The girls must be from the Konoha Hyuga clan. And..." turning the book around that the other two shinobi could get a look on the opened page "...Kumo does have a running bounty for any living member of the Hyuga clan. And there are two girls, not even Genin yet. They won't be able to fight back if you ask me. Easy earned money."

All three shinobi grinned at the thought. Maybe the day wouldn't be too bad, after their friends lost the skirmish the day before. They didn't really cared what might happen to these girls. With this young age will they most likely be brainwashed and used for breeding that Kumo can earn their Kekkei Genkai, but they didn't care for that. The money was way more intresting to them.

Naruto was nearly reaching the branch with the birds nest on it and Hinata watched him worried, when Hanabi quietly spoke up. "Don't panic... grab what you are looking for and then be ready to run back to the village... There are three shinobi watching us from some distance and they aren't from our village... I don't want to find out what they are up to. Maybe they want to retrieve something they lost here yesterday or maybe they want to avenge their comrades or whatever. But we should get away here quickly."

Hinata gulped and nodded slightly and Naruto, reaching the birds nest, nodded as well. He picked up the strangely shaped kunai and put it away, before suddenly jumping down the tree and as soon as he landed did all three of them turn around and started running back to the village.

"So much for the bounty... did they see us?" the third shinobi mumbled, a bit disappointed that the kids were running away.

"I don't think that they spotted us. It is most unlikely, they are kids after all. But I wonder why they were running away all of a sudden..." the second shinobi added.

"Well, would have been quite some money we would have gotten for the two girls. Too bad. Anyway, now we can search for what we came here for, right?" the third shinobi said, getting ready to approach the battlefield.

"Yeah... about that..." the first shinobi was now talking "I think I saw that the boy picked up what we came here for..."

"What?" the third shinobi gasped in shock. "And you are telling us now after they already had some time to run away while we were talking? Hurry up and follow them!" all three of them started to chase down the kids, jumping from branch to branch between the trees while the kids were running on the ground of the forest.

"Shit... they are following us and they are fast. Won't be long before they catch up to us..." Hanabi was cursing, still checking their surroundings and the area behind them with her Byakugan, seeing that the three shinobis after talking started to chase them.

"We need a plan and we need it quick... Hey, Naruto, do you still have the earpiece from yesterday?" Hanabi ran closer to Naruto, hoping he would still have what he snatched the day before.

"Huh? Yeah, I do. Why?" he looked at her a bit confused while avoiding some bushes on his way.

"Don't ask, just gimme. It's the best plan I can think of now!" she said slightly upset by his hesitation and grabbed the earpiece as soon as he pulled it out and placed it in her ear. "Oh shit, dodge. There are shuriken flying our way!" she shouted before jumping behind a tree and the other two followed, avoiding the attacks.

"Please let it work..." Hanabi quietly said while all three of them went back to running. "Hey, spooky white hair guy, can you hear me? Mister one eye? Cyclops? Please, please, please let it work... please hear me. Hey, bookworm? Common, answer me!" Hanabi activated the earpiece, hoping that the guy who catched them the day before would still have the one he used to listen into their conversation.

The radio was silent for quite some time and she repeated calling into it, fearing that they might be done for. After another time of silence and another dodge to flying shuriken did the radio however activate. "Spooky white hair guy? That's a new one. Anyway, I already catched you yesterday girl and you have nothing better to do then using the same radio earpiece again?"

"No time for that!" Hanabi shouted, being out of breath already. "Listen, we need your help quickly. We are chased by some enemy shinobi and..." a scream from Hinata could be heard. "Oh shit, sis? You okay? Common, keep running. It's just a scratch, really!" Hinata got slightly hit by a shuriken in her flank, a thin cut in her shirt which slowly changed to red. Naruto went to her side to support her while they continued to run.

"Where are you? And why? Details!" the voice of the white haird guy changed to death serious, figuring that Hanabi wasn't trying to prank him at all.

"Northern forest and on our way back to the village. He are chased by three unknown shinobi and they try to kill us here. Please help us!" Hanabi shouted again. "They are faster as well and... shit... COVER!" all three of them barely made it away from the fire style jutsu that got thrown at them. "We... won't make it..." she quietly said and sighed, before picking up the run again.

Back in the village was the white haird Jonin already on his way to the northern forest with haste, while he sent a clone of his into the Academy, to inform the responsible teacher that three of his students were in a deadly situation. "Hang in there, kids, I'll be right there."

Inside the Academy

Iruka was talking about some basic things about chakra at the moment. It wasn't really intresting and even if it were, Ino was way too distracted to pay any attention. 'Hanabi, Hinata, where are you? I'm totally worried...' she thought to herself, when she got pulled out of her thoughts by a sudden commotion inside the class room.

A white haird Jonin with a mask covering his face and his headband pulled down over his left eye appeared basicly out of nowhere and gave a slightly wave. "Yo!" he greeted Iruka, who was shocked to see his friend in his classroom.

"Kakashi, what are you doing here? Can't you see I'm busy teaching right now?" Iruka wasn't happy of being interrupted even so he guessed that something must be up if Kakashi took the time to get here in the first place.

"Uhm, well, you see..." Kakashi scratched the back of his head "It might be the case that three of your students are currently hunted by enemy shinobi and might not make it back in time or be rescued."

The class fell silent by this information, most of them shocked. Though some boys were slightly grinning by this information. "Wait, what? Enemy shinobi? But why?" it was Ino to shout out. "There are only three missing today... that means that Hanabi, Hinata and Naruto are in trouble. And you aren't going to help them?"

"She is right. Thanks for telling me, but I need to hurry now. Where are they, Kakashi? And how did you know?" Iruka felt uneasy and wanted to help his students right away.

"Aw, common, relax Iruka. I'm already on my way to help them but I don't know if I'll be in time. The little Hyuga girl contacted me some moments ago and I went right away. Just thought I would inform you, so..." the clone prepared to disperse, but was stopped.

"Stop right there. What do you mean with she contacted you? How? And why do my students know you anyway?" Iruka wanted answers. He might not be needed to save them, but then he at least wanted informations on the situation.

"Huh? By using a radio earpiece. Oh, right, you don't know. I caught the little Hyuga and Naruto yesterday after they pranked some Chunin. They snatched two earpieces and I got the remaining ones to chase them down. I just happened to still have them with me and was able to hear her call for help. So, if that's all, I guess my real me needs my chakra back..." the clone prepared to disperse again, but was stopped, again.

"You... will rescue them, right?" Ino spoke again, this time close to tears. "I don't want to loose my friends..."

Kakashi sighed and turned to Ino "Listen girl, the world is dangerous and life can be short. It's sad, but we can't change that. I am trying to rescue them, but I can't promise anything. See ya." the clone waved and finally dispersed, leaving a now crying Ino and a mostly shocked class behind.

"So troublesome..." could be heard from Shikamaru. "I wonder why they are hunted by enemy shinobi in the first place. They aren't stupid enough to just walk somewhere dangerous by themselfs..."

"Yeah, true enough. I really wonder what happened..." Iruka added, missing the grin of the leader of the boy gang while some members looked distressed. They didn't want the two girls to die as well...

Northern forest, somewhere between the battlefield and Konoha

The three shinobi were currently going through some hand signs, all of them identic. They were planning the final attack to get rid of these kids and to get what they came for, even if that meant killing the girls and with that loosing the bounties. Maybe they might get a partial reward for their bodys.

Naruto and Hinata were supporting each other, both having some cuts from all the shuriken while Hanabi was biting her lips and holding her right arm where she got slightly hit by one of the fire jutsus thrown their way. All three weren't in any good condition at all and easy targets for the oncomming attack.

Finishing their hand signs did all three shinobi shout out "Fire Style: Giant Salamander" and a huge wave of flames erupted from all three of them, targeting straight for the kids. They still tried to run but knew they would be done for.

"I'm sorry, girls. I really am... it's my fault you are with me." Naruto spoke up, appologizing during their last moments. "Kinda funny... the villagers tried so often during my life and these foreign shinobi will get the kill now..."

"And it's my fault Hinata is around. Sorry sis..." Hanabi mumbled, feeling guilty just as Naruto.

"It's okay. I don't regret it, Hanabi. I never will, promise." Hinata said smiling slightly, knowing that's the last thing her sister will see, so give her a good image.

Just a second before the flames could consume them however raised an earthern wall between them and the attack, saving them at the last moment. "Yo!" Kakashi waved to them. "Seems like I made it in time. Run to the village, I'll handle this here. And then we need to talk about it."

All three nodded and ran away, while the earthern wall lowered itself back into the ground, Kakashi now facing the three slightly upset shinobi. "How dare you interfere here? We were so close..." the first of them spoke, totally annoyed.

"How dare I interfere? Hmm... how about you were attacking children from our, from my village? And now you are done for!" he went through some hand signs with lightning speed creating an electric charge in his right hand. "I have an idea who you might be and that means you are dead now. Just like your friends from yesterday. Chidori!"

Kakashi charged at the three and jumped from one to another, hitting all three of them without any trouble. They didn't even had time to defend themselfs against the speed of the Konoha Jonin and everything was over within a few seconds. "I'll send a team to clean up. Now back to the kids." he stretched slightly before following the children back to the village.

At the hospital

Hanabi, Hinata and Naruto were currently treated at the hospital, when Kakashi entered the room together with Iruka, who left his class when he heard that his students got rescued in time but got injured. Naruto and Hanabi looked to the ground when they saw both enter and Hinata became suddenly nervous, fearing the worst.

"I'm glad that all of you are safe, but why were you out there at all? Children your age aren't supposed to be out in the forest, especially when there was a skirmish just a day ago. That was plain stupid and you could be dead by now. Nobody knew you were out there and if you hadn't been lucky with your radio earpiece who knows when we might have found you at all?" Iruka was upset about his students foolish act. Relieved that they are safe now, but still upset.

Naruto blinked his eyes a few times. "I'm sorry that I endangered the girls, but sensei, it's not true that nobody knew. The boy gang of our class said I could join them if I would find a foreign object from the battlefield of the skirmish. That's why I went there in the first place!"

Hanabi nodded. "And we saw him walking towards the forest and followed him. Once he told us what he wanted to do did we decide to help him. We thought it would be a good idea assisting him with our eyes. When I saw the shinobi nearby did we turn and run away back to the village."

Iruka was speechless. 'Wait a moment... Hanabi's insight on the situation wasn't that bad. She kinda expected someone to still be out there and searched the area with her Byakugan. A smart girl indeed. But that part about the boy gang... did they try to kill Naruto? They haven't said a word about his whereabouts... so much work is comming my way...'

"So, to get this straight, you were searching for an object from the foreign shinobi that fought in the skirmish last day to pass a stupid test and when you found out you weren't alone did you turn and flee. Was that all that happened?" Kakashi asked, putting the information together.

"Uhm, well... you see..." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I actually found this strange kunai and put it away, right before fleeing." he pulled out the kunai and handed it to Kakashi who started to inspect it. His one eye turned wide when he realized what he held in his hand. Around the shaft of the kunai was a piece of paper containing critical informations about the village.

"ANBU, come in." he said, before a female shinobi with purple hair and a cat mask appeared beside him, just a second later. "Ah, Cat, it's you. I need you to bring this to Hokage-sama. Seems like the enemy shinobi managed to sneak in and steal our defensive plans. And Naruto incidentally found and retrieved them for our village. Please report that."

The female nodded and took the kunai before vanishing again. All three kids sat there with wide eyes. "You... you mean we kinda saved the village just now?" Naruto was struck by this information. "That's so awesome!" he just started to get excited before getting a hit on the head by Iruka.

"You mean you nearly lost your live together with two of your classmates in addition to the fact that the enemy would have gotten the informations about our defenses if it weren't for one lucky event that you were able to contact Kakashi over there and that he saved you at the very last second. That's nothing you should be proud about." Iruka scolded him.

"Well... actually might it be even worse then that, Iruka. The enemy shinobi's had a bingo book with them and it was opened on the running bounty Kumo has set." Kakashi smiled while speaking, knowing that these kids won't understand what he is talking about.

"You mean...?" Iruka looked at the girls and frowned. "Yes, that might be worse then being killed. We should be happy that everything went just fine out there. Okay kids, once you are fixed up are you free to walk home. Class is finished for today anyway. But tomorrow you'll receive your punishment for skipping class."

All three looked at each other before nodding slowly. It was again Naruto who spoke up. "What about the boy gang? They tried to get me killed out there... and honestly did they do a far better job then the whole village so far..." he frowned and got upset, thinking about the whole situation.

"Don't worry Naruto. They will be addressed as well tomorrow and they will get some punishment as well." Iruka reassured his student, ruffling his hair.

"Uhm... these boys... are the same that bullied me back then..." Hinata said quietly, looking towards Naruto who fully understood.

"These are the boys? Seriously?" Naruto entered a rage, now that Hinata confirmed what he thought right away this morning. "They are so going to be the next victims of me. First picking on Hinata, now trying to get me killed? Payback, believe it!" he shouted, ignoring the looks of Iruka and Kakashi.

Hanabi grinned at that declaration. "Sounds good to me, count us in. Hey, spooky white hair guy, you got two earpieces left from yesterday, right? Mind giving us one of them?" she smiled innocently at Kakashi who tried to hide his face just now.

"Spooky white hair guy? How did that name came around, Kakashi?" Iruka asked intrested.

"Don't ask. I'm not entirely sure myself..." Kakashi sweat dropped. "Well, I'm gone now. Think we have everything settled, right?" Kakashi turned to leave, giving them all a wave. Before he was out of the door completely did he toss an earpiece over to Hanabi who catched it grinning.

Iruka shook his head and left as well, leaving the three children alone. Hanabi handed one earpiece back to Naruto and gave the other one to Hinata. Once she got her's from home would they be set. They discussed some ways to critically prank these boys tomorrow for what they have done to them and went home once they decided.

Hyuga Compound

Hinata entered her room and sighed. This was a day she wouldn't forget for a long time. She was out on an adventure with her crush, got nearly killed, scolded by her teacher and planned a prank she would participate in for the next day. That was more things on one day then she did in her whole life so far. At least did it felt like that to her.

She went over to the place she was hiding her secrets and treasures, pulling out a small box from behind her desk. Sitting down at the desk and placing the box atop it did she pull out the thing she snatched on the battlefield before they had to run back to the village.

"I knew you picked something up, I just wasn't sure what exactly, sis." Hinata was shocked hearing her sisters voice and didn't move. She didn't notice her entry which is frustrating enough. But she also got caught with her secret box, meaning her sister would now learn the last things about her she didn't knew yet. Not that there would be much left to learn anyway, but still.

Hanabi moved over to Hinata, sitting down next to her on a second chair. "So that's your secret box, huh? Wonder what you have inside it." Hanabi smiled at her sister, who was breathing deeply. "Now show me what you picked up, sis. I'm intrested."

"It's... just a small souvenir... I thought I would start getting a souvenir from each adventure I'm going on. And that was one for sure." she said quietly, showing the item she picked up to her sister. She hadn't really looked at it herself yet, she just picked it up quickly the moment she saw it in the corner of her eye, cause it kinda looked out of place or at least not like normal ninja gear.

Hanabi raised an eye brow at the object and Hinata blushed slightly, now seeing it clearly for the first time. "Uhm, sis? Do you know what this is? I have a good idea about it. But I would like to know if you have one too?" Hanabi looked at her blushing sister who nodded slowly.

"It... does look like... a collar. Slightly damaged because of the battle, but clearly a collar. I wonder who was wearing it? Ninja dogs aren't wearing ones, right? And I didn't hear that there were some involved at all..." Hinata thought about it.

Hanabi grinned slightly. "It's not just animals wearing collars, you know sis? I wonder if the enemy shinobis had a slave with them... too bad the name tag isn't readable anymore..." Hanabi pouted slightly. "Well, doesn't matter, right? Common, put your souvenir away and show me your little secrets. Show me, show me, show me!" she giggled, bouncing slightly up and down atop the chair.

Hinata sighed and opened her box, showing her sister the contents of it. There wasn't much inside and most of the things weren't that much surprising. Some pictures of Naruto, whereever she got them in the first place. A letter written by Hinata and addressed to Naruto was there as well. "You still haven't told him, sis? You know that would be a great step back from your shyness, right?"

"I know, but... I just can't do it... Not yet..." Hinata sighed. "Plus... am I even allowed to have feelings for someone?" she looked at Hanabi with worried eyes who looked back in surprise, before realising what her sister was getting at.

"Of course you are, dummy. I can't forbid you to have feelings. And I wouldn't want to do it even if I could. You are my sis and you deserve a love!" Hanabi smiled at her big sister, who smiled relieved back at her.

"Thank you, Hanabi. But... I still can't. Not yet..." Hanabi sighed at these words but simply nodded them away.

"Say, sis, why is the book Naruto gave to you two years ago in your box?" Hanabi tilted her head slightly, watching her sister. "I know you got it from him and all, but it's just a book about raising pets, right? I mean, that's the title anyway, Raising Pets. Why did you put it in your secret box?" Hanabi tried to take the book but Hinata pulled the box away from her.

"No! You... can't read it!" her eyes showed her panic and Hanabi was completely confused by this.

"Why not, sis? It's not like I would use that knowledge to be cruel to pets or something..." Hanabi pouted at her sister.

"Please... you just... can't, okay?" Hinata placed the damaged collar atop the book and closed the box, getting the contents out of sight.

"Jeez, okay. No reason to get this upset you know?" Hanabi shrugged it off and smiled slightly. "Ready for tomorrow?" she changed topic and grinned.

"I think I am. I hope it will work..." Hinata put her fingers together, becoming nervous, thinking about the prank the next day.

"Everything will be fine. We have the prankster king on our side!" Hanabi smiled and hugged her sister. "Get some rest. See you tomorrow, sis."

"Okay, I will. Good night, Hanabi." Hinata returned the hug and smiled slightly. Both of them finished this day with a smile, knowing that the next day would be a fun one, if they manage to pull the prank on their classes boy gang. A well deserved, sweet revenge for everything they did...

Hokage office at night

The hokage was still at his office, working late. He was an old man, far beyond the best years. But as leader of this village was it his duty to protect it and to deal with any affair that might interfere with the village politics. That's also the reason why he still was in his office in the first place.

He wasn't alone. Together with him were one of his best Jonin, the white haird Kakashi Hatake, his most trusted ANBU, the purple haird female known as Cat, as well as the head of the Hyuga clan, Hiashi Hyuga.

"Do you understand the situation we just told you about?" the Hokage asked the Hyuga clan head, who looked slightly concerned.

"Well, I do understand a few things, but... basicly there are three main things on my mind right now. First is the knowledge, that both my girls are friends with the Uzumaki brat. Something I wasn't aware of, to be honest. I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing... but it would be bad to forbid the contact at all. Let's just hope that the demon won't take any influence on them."

All inside the room nodded at these words. The chances right now were little, but not at zero. There is always a risk if dealing with demons.

"The second thing is that my girls were nearly killed today. Or even worse close to being kidnapped and sold to Kumo. Something I would like to kill the Uzumaki brat for, endangering my daughters like that. But it isn't really his fault, I know that much... and the third is the information, that some enemy shinobi managed to actually sneak into our village, steal data on our defenses and somehow managed to get this information out of our walls. It was mere luck that they found the kunai today, after our patrol had the battle the day before. I do appreciate their rescue, Kakashi. I do owe you a favour now." the clan head finished his sum up of the situation.

"Oh, I might get back to that, Hiashi. Probably in three years, when your girls manage to become Genin. We will see." Kakashi smiled with his one visible eye.

"Cat, did your team finish the clean-up of the enemy shinobis already? We don't need corpses lying around in the surrounding forests." the Hokage addressed the purple haird ANBU.

"Of course, Hokage-sama. My team brought the corpses away and double checked both battlefields that there won't be any more valueable or important things that were overseen the day before. We haven't found anything more, so we should be safe now. However, there is one thing I'm personally worried about..." her voice got quiet. While her face was hidden by the mask some could guess that she must have a worried look right now.

"Oh, and what might that be?" the Hokage raised an eyebrow at his subordinate.

"It seems like the enemy is using slaves in their ranks. One of the enemy shinobi was wearing a collar. But we couldn't find any indication from which country or village these were from at all. That is..." Cat sighed.

"Disturbing information indeed." Kakashi finished for her. "I never heard of a force using slaves. If they are trained as shinobi, who knows what might happen? And no indication on where they are from? Even missing ninja do still wear the emblem of their origin... Let's hope that this was just random and won't bother us at all in the future..."

"I'll order some of my people to support the lookouts for the next few weeks. We should play it safe and our Byakugan will be a big help to detect approaching threats for our village." Hiashi said, getting a thankful smile from the Hokage.

"Okay, thank you Hiashi. One last thing before you are all dismissed. I want to reward the three children for returning critical information to the village. Hiashi, please hand these payings to both your daugthers and give them the third for Naruto. Each of them is getting a pay for a C-rank mission and I'll add one to their records as well. They couldn't fight back, I know, but it was definately a C-rank if we had sent a team. You can leave now." the Hokage dismissed them and sat back in his chair.

"Can't I at least get one day without any emergency? All I want is some time to relax..." he sighed and pulled out his pipe, inhaling one long breath of it and exhaling the smoke. "Just one day of quiet and peace..."


	6. Chapter 5 - Payback

_**Authors Note:**_ Had to help out my coworkers in the workshop this week. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind helping them, but my whole body is sore now. My right hand partially useless (lost an argument with a machine - three flesh wounds, one probably infected, maybe a blood poisoning) and I totally lost a lot of writing time. So to finish this chapter I'm using the time this Saturday morning I usually use for corrections. Just because I'm happy that you are reading my story and I want to try giving you a chapter every weekend - but no promises on that one.

So, I guess you figured it already, but I'm trying to lead Hinata into her slave status really slowly. I think I wrote it already, but I want to repeat it again: They are just two young girls right now of 9 and 7 years. It might be mean from me to confront her with this topic in that way, but she will grow into it. I already have something planned for the close future (maybe in chapter 7 or 8 or so - I should totally check the date of her birthday).

Lastly something different and totally random: I'm not planning to overpower any character. Why am I writing that? Cause I read some fictions lately were Naruto was totally overpowered, like unlocking the Rinnegan as child or having multiple Kekkai Genkai and so on. Sure, you can still write good stories with that, the ones I'm reading are. But I'm not planning to walk in that direction.  
Hanabi's let's call it "rare mutation" of her Byakugan is the only thing I've planned so far - and it's not really that big of an advantage in my opinion. It can confuse the enemy as best if she is fighting with closed eyes in the future. But I'm thinking of coming up with some self created jutsu. Haku will totally get one - one I'm unsure why nobody thought about it before (or at least haven't I seen it yet), even so it's just logical in some way. But I'm getting ahead of myself, am still far away from Haku right now.

Hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm personally not completely happy with it. It turned out shorter due to the reduced writing time and my mind was also slightly effected by the soreness my body is feeling. Please don't punish me for that, will ya?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters – Chapter 5: Payback  
**

Hinata felt quite uncomfortable. Two days ago was her first day at the Academy and she was wearing her big brown jacket to hide her body. One day ago was she out without her jacket and felt embarassed by that. But today? She totally wanted to hide herself in her room and never come back out again.

"Why do I have to wear these kind of things, Hanabi?" Hinata asked quietly, watching herself in her mirror. She was wearing a tight black shirt that showed her for this age well developed upper body and a long purplish skirt that at least reached down to her ankles, but would reveal some skin from time to time, depending on her movements. Not to mention the worst case scenario a skirt can produce.

"Why? Because we want to get the boys back for what they did to you and Naruto, remember? And this outfit is part of our plan, on which you agreed, sis. Besides, I think you look good with these clothes!" Hanabi smiled at her sister, herself wearing an every day outfit with simple pants and a t-shirt. She could't help but being amused by her sisters reaction to her outfit.

"But... it's so embarassing..." Hinata complained. "What if they will see? I... couldn't stand that..." she mumbled to herself, putting a grin on Hanabi's face.

"Yeah, sure. But you wouldn't mind if it was Naruto getting a peek at your underwear, right sis?" her grin got even wider while her sisters face turned crimson red.

"Uhm... no..." Hinata shook her head before letting it hang in defeat. There was no way she could win this argument with Hanabi and she knew that. Her feelings toward Naruto were absolutely clear and she would basicly do everything for him, if she had the courage to tell him about her feelings at all. And it wasn't really helping her, that Hanabi liked to tease her about it.

"Maybe we should ask him to join us the next time when we are going to buy new one. Isn't that a great idea?" Hanabi was hardly able to hold her laughter inside when Hinata first turned even redder before paling white at the thought of buying underwear together with a boy, even if it would be Naruto.

"ENOUGH!" Hinata suddenly shouted out, surprising her sister with this outburst. "Will you please stop with this teasing and joking? I know well enough that it's no good if I'm not telling him of my feelings, okay? But it's no good either if you are constantly bring this topic up combined with all your teasing. How shall I ever get a step forward if you are holding me back?!" she was looking at her younger sister angrily, her breath at high speed because of this outburst of rage.

"Sis... you..." Hanabi was still shocked by what just happened. "That's the first time you talked back to me. I think... you are improving pretty well." she smiled a little. "I'll stop teasing you if you remember what you just did, okay? That was a huge step away from your shyness, you know?" the grin got back to Hanabi's face.

Hinata blinked her eyes a few times, before calming down. "You... you are right. I... defended myself. Was that the reason why you were teasing me all the time?" she might have just learned something about her little sister. She is trying to help in her own ways, even if it isn't clear to someone.

"We should go and get breakfast, sis. Common!" Hanabi avoided the question and turned to leave her sisters room. "After all, we have some things to do before going to the Academy today. We don't want to loose too much time here, right?"

Once in the kitchen did the next surprising thing happen. Something both girls never expected to see. Their father was in the kitchen when they entered and the first thing they realized was that his jaw was opened and his eyes focused on Hinata in shock. It took them a whole minute to somehow get him out of this state and to get his attention.

"Hinata... that's... the first time I'm seeing you dressed like that. That's unexpected, but I think it suits you." Hiashi said, still looking at his older daughter in slight shock. Hanabi couldn't help but to giggle, while Hinata bashfully smiled at her father.

"It's... just because of... a... situation. Yes, a situation." Hinata nodded to herself. "Don't get used to it, father." her face turned slightly red again and she was sure that she would be blushing even more this day. After both girls sat down to get some breakfast did their father speak up again.

"Okay, I see. Anyway, I heard what you two did yesterday..." both girls looked at their father in slight fear, not knowing what would happen next. Was he upset that they went into the forest? That they nearly got killed? Or would he be impressed that they brought back critical information that was stolen by enemy shinobi?

"... and I got told by Hokage-sama to hand you these paychecks. He said he will add a C-rank mission to your records for that and is even paying you for one as well." he hid his own feelings about this matter like a professional and handed the paychecks to his daughters who simply watched dumb struck back at him.

"A C-rank mission? But... I thought missions won't be given out before someone became Genin?" Hanabi asked confused, expecting everything from her father but not this. "Not that I want to complain though..." she took her paycheck and checked the amount, getting wide eyes.

"Hokage-same explained it as if he would have sent a team to retrieve the information you brought back would it have been a C-rank mission. And while you weren't able to fight back against the shinobi did you at least show that you were having a plan, by scanning the surroundings, getting away from the danger and contacting someone for help. You had a tactic and it mostly worked. That impressed Hokage-sama." Hiashi explained, watching the expressions of his daughters, which varied from surprise to pride and fear.

"It was Hanabi who made the plan, father." Hinata said, also taking her paycheck and putting it away without checking the amount. She could do that later.

"I thought as much..." Hiashi sighed. "It always seemed like she was more talented then you, Hinata. One of the reasons why she also entered Academy this year. But from what I was told did you work good as a team and that is something I'm accepting. And I would be really surprised if the Uzumaki brat would have come up with such a plan."

The expressions of both girls changed slightly, showing that they aren't too happy how her father named Naruto just now. "Speaking of, Hokage-sama want you to give him that. He is getting a C-rank paycheck for yesterday as well." He handed the third paycheck to Hanabi who took it away.

"You have no reason to call Naruto-kun by such a name, father. As far as I know hasn't he pranked the Hyuga at all and it isn't his fault that the village is hating him. Also, he's our friend and as such should our father also recognize him." Hanabi was watching her father with slight anger in her expression while Hinata nodded on that statement. She just wouldn't voice her opinion against her father, but she stood behind Hanabi's statement.

Hiashi sighed again and nodded slowly. "I appologize. Yes, I heard that he is your friend last night as well. He was just a brat in my eyes and still is. Please don't expect me to change my view on him over night." realizing that his daughters weren't satisfied with his explanation yet did he continue. "Okay, I'm not having any grudge against him. And I agree that his treatment by the villagers is plain wrong. But I can't do anything against that. You might be able to understand that once you are older."

Still getting angry looks from his daughters was he uickly chaging topic and getting up from the table. "See, I got an important meeting I need to attend. Have a pleasent day at school." and with that was Hiashi gone, leaving his daughters alone in the kitchen.

"You think we should tell Naruto what father just told us?" Hanabi asked.

"I'm not sure... it wasn't much information at all. But we can tell him the thing about yesterday and give him his paycheck." Hinata smiled at Hanabi who nodded, before both finished their breakfast and left home. After all did they have a plan to work through before going to the Academy this day.

An alley in Konoha

Naruto was waiting for the girls for some minutes now and he got restless. They had a small time window to pull off the plan and the girls were late already. He was thinking about contacting them via the radio earpieces, when they finally showed up. They decided to leave the communication to a minimum, cause they were expecting the white haird Jonin, Kakashi if they remembered correctly, to listen to them. After all was he having the fourth earpiece and he knew they were planning something. That and he showed interest in Naruto at all.

"What took you so long? You are late and we are nearly out of time for the preparations." he looked at the approaching girls and went silent when he saw the outfit Hinata was dressed with. "Wow... Hinata-chan... you look beautiful."

She blushed and put her fingers together. "Uhm... thank you, Naruto-kun..." Hinata wasn't sure how to react or what to say. But that Naruto liked her look would help her to get through the day wearing this outfit.

Hanabi rolled her eyes before speaking up. "We are on the clock here, remember? Oh, but before..." she pulled the paycheck for Naruto out of her pocket and handed it over. "This is from Hokage-sama. He's paying all of us a C-rank mission for yesterday. That's yours."

"Hey, that's awesome! Tell me the details later, okay?" Naruto grinned widely. "But for now do we have a prank to pull through. I've prepared what we need." he stepped aside to reveal a school bag that looked just like the one Hinata was using. "I've put some surprises inside. If the gang will react the way we expect them to, they will soon be our victims. Hinata, you remember what you need to do?"

"Yes... it's embarassing, but... I'll do my part. They've done enough things to us and it's time that they get something in return." Hinata still had some doubts if she could do her part, but she was determined and made up her mind to complete it.

"Good. And I will check the whole surroundings. Keep an eye on our targets and check for any problems. If I see something will I contact you via radio. But only use them in emergencies. I'm sure the spooky white hair guy will be listening. I guess he won't interfere, but we should play it save and don't give him too much to listen." Hanabi said, getting nods from the other two.

"Do we have any plan if this one fails?" Hinata asked, not wanting to do the things she is going to do for nothing.

"Well... kinda..." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Plan B is simply me running by them and throwing stuff at them. You know, like paint and water bombs and stuff." he shrugged. "But I'm sure that it will work just fine."

"We talked enough. They should be on their way and we should be going as well." Hanabi said, waving goodbye for the moment and heading to her observation point, which in fact was just a bench at the side of the park where she sat down and closed her eyes. She was quite happy about the fact that she could use her Byakugan with closed eyes and with that not everybody noticing it.

'Okay, let's see. There is Hinata, waiting for the boys. Naruto is... over there, good. He does have a good view and a short enough distance to help Hinata if something goes wrong. But where are the boys? Are we too late? Did they go earlier today? Or are they... ah, there they are. They are kinda late as well.' Hanabi thought to herself, oberserving everything she need to check.

"Shouldn't you be on your way to the Academy?" a voice suddenly said beside her, startling her a little, but she quickly relaxed after checking her own location without opening her eyes at all.

"Well, I'm sure I will be there on time. And you? Nothing better to do then scare children, spooky white hair guy?" Hanabi replied, focusing back on the target area. Her quick check of her surroundings had shown that it was Kakashi standing next to her, not really paying any attention to her and reading inside his book.

Kakashi replied without stopping to read. "I was just curious what you three were going to do. I figured it might be before the Academy starts. But since you haven't communicated yet, well, I just wanted to see for myself."

Hanabi couldn't help but smile. "We figured you would be listening into our conversations, so we decided to keep it down to an absolute minimum. But if you wanted to see us in action are you at the wrong place. I'm just observing, you know?"

'The way she is talking to me is impressive. I'm basicly a stranger to her but it's like she figured out my intentions already. Only seven years old but smart indeed. You got a fine daughter, Hiashi.' Kakashi thought to himself before answering. "Well, I'm sure Iruka will tell me the details. And your reactions will tell me if your plan worked or not. I think I'm at the right place."

"I see. And it's totally random that Cat-san is observing the same area in which we are operating, right?" Hanabi grinned slightly. The ANBU was good at hiding, but her eyes still managed to find her pretty quickly.

"Huh? Cat-san? I don't know what you are talking about." Kakashi answered without emotions, wondering how good Hanabi really is. After he and Cat left the office of the Hokage last night did he ask her to have an eye on Naruto and the girls this day, because of the things that happened and the payback they wanted to deliver.

"Right. You sure don't." Hanabi was still grinning with her eyes close, before activating the earpiece. "They are coming your way, just as planned. Go get them, sis. And as expected do we have an audience. Put on a good show, will ya?" she could hear a frown from Naruto as response and saw that her sister was slightly nodding since she knew that Hanabi would see that.

Hinata was waiting behind a corner at the street the three boys were walking at toward the Academy. 'I really hope I can do that. It's embarassing, but I won't let Naruto-kun and Hanabi down.' she activated her Byakugan for a short time to see the distance between her and the boys, before finally deciding to take action.

The boys were close to the corner when Hinata came running around it. She turned in the same direction the boys headed, giving the image that she was on her way to the Academy as well but in a hurry. But all she managed to do was two steps forward, before tripping over her own feet and falling forward onto the ground. 'Please let them not have seen anything.' she thought to herself and slightly blushed, trying to get herself back up from the ground.

The leader of the gang was already at her side, kneeling next to her and pushing Hinata back down to the ground with his hand on her back. "Well, what do we have here? If it isn't the shy Hyuga. Reminds me so much on four years ago. Too bad we were interrupted back then." he brought his face close to her ear before whispering. "Oh, cute underwear, by the way. It was nice of you to show us." he grinned and his two friends laughed at this comment.

'They really saw it... it's so... embarassing...' Hinata thought to herself and her blush increased to crimson red. She tried to struggle free but was firmly held in place.

"Too bad there are so many people around us. Well, guess it's time for us to go. See you at class!" the leader grinned and got down from Hinata, catching her school bag while getting up and left with his friends.

Once they were out of sight was Naruto at Hinata's side helping her up. "You okay, Hinata-chan? They haven't done anything to you, right?" he asked concerned, seeing her crimson face.

She slowly shook her head and hugged Naruto. "I'm fine. It's just... they saw..." she whispered, not realising that she actually hugged Naruto. While she wasn't fainting for months now in his presence and her stutter was only there if she felt strong emotions were body contact something she still had problems with when it came to Naruto. But in this situation was she fine however.

"Saw what?" Naruto asked, not really knowing what Hinata meant. "Well, doesn't matter I guess. We should be going to the Academy now. Don't want to be late, right?" he let go of Hinata who nodded at him, both walking towards the Academy.

Five minutes later did the radio activate again and Hanabi was talking "Mission complete. Can't wait to see the results. See ya at class." Both Hinata and Naruto were smiling. They couldn't wait to see the results as well.

"You happy now, spooky white hair guy? Well, I'm off toward the Academy, if you'll excuse me." Hanabi was opening her eyes and getting up from the bench, noticing that Kakashi wasn't there anymore. 'Did he leave while I was deactivating my Byakugan? What a strange fellow. Well, anyway, I should get going.'

Kakashi sat atop a roof together with Cat, watching Hanabi go. "These kids are impressive. That's for lending me a hand today, Cat. She did see you, by the way." Kakashi handed her a bottle of sake for sacrificing some of her time.

"I thought as much. Anyway, I've gotta go, Kakashi. Til next time!" she gave him a wave and was gone while Kakashi continued reading his book, like nothing happened at all.

At the Academy

Ino was talking to Sakura this morning. The topics were the same as always, meaning Sasuke on Sakura's site and the Hyuga sisters and Naruto on Ino's site.

"I tell you, Sasuke is cooler, stronger and better in any way than Naruto. He's the best in our class and will become the greatest shinobi ever!" Sakura proudly exclaimed. She had totally fallen for the black haird boy who always kept to himself.

"Yeah, and he isn't intrested in you or any other girl, if you might have noticed. Naruto is kind and lively and he cares for his friends. Also..." Ino stopped mid-sentence and fell silent, her jaw dropped.

"Huh? Ino-pig? You still with me?" Sakura asked, waving her hand in front of Ino's eyes. Ino still didn't answered and simply pointed toward the door to the classroom and Sakura looked in this direction, her jaw dropping as well.

Basicly the whole class went silent and looked towards the door, where Hinata and Naruto just entered. There were a few things differently compared to what they would expect. The first thing was that Hinata was entering with Naruto and not her sister. Academy just started two days ago, but Hinata was always seen with her sister outside so that's the thing the other students would expect.

The second thing was the fact that Naruto was totally calm. No grin on his face, no loud speaking, even his energetic aura that usually seems to surround him was missing. Some students inside the classroom got a shiver down their spine by that realisation, cause this can't be anything good at all.

The one thing however that shocked the whole class was the outfit Hinata was wearing. Even the children who knew her for a bit longer by now never saw her wearing something like that. She usually wore a big jacket to hide her body paired with a sort of baggy pants to keep everything kinda hidden. The tight black shirt and long purplish skirt were totally out of place with Hinata. Though the boys in the class had to admit that the look was nice and the girls kinda got jealous of her well developed body for her age.

Hinata blushed at the attention but got quickly distracted by Naruto who gave her a reassuring smile and led her to her desk. Once Hinata sat down was the class slowly awakening from their shock and continued their conversations. Ino quickly got over and sat down on her place, starting a conversation with Hinata.

"Hinata-chan, you look beautiful. Why have I never seen you wearing something like that? Oh, let me guess, you and Naruto are having a date after class, right?" Ino wasn't know as gossip queen for nothing and started asking several things at once.

"Don't ask for everything at once. You'll confuse me..." Hinata answered, trying to get some distance between herself and Ino. "And I can't answer your questions. We agreed to not tell anyone before a certain event happens." she smiled slightly at Ino, who gave her a confused look.

"What? What kind of event shall happen? I don't get it. Are you having a secret together with Naruto? Common Hinata-chan, tell me. We are friends, right?" Ino got desperate, she so wanted to know. That would make good gossip for sure.

"Stop bothering my sister, Ino. She won't tell you. But if you need to know, the event will happen in a few minutes, that I'm sure of." Ino looked up to see a grinning Hanabi who just arrived, being even more confused now. Hanabi sat down on her place, still grinning. "Just wait some minutes and keep your eyes on the door. You don't want to miss that, I'm sure. And knowing you..." she couldn't finish her sentence because the door opened and Ino couldn't help but to shout out in shock.

"Forehead! Since when do you have siblings?!" the whole class turned their heads towards Ino who was loud enough to be heard outside the building.

"What are you talking about, Ino-pig? I don't have siblings at all..." her voice went off-track when she realized what Ino was referring to. Her eyes were fixed on the three figures that had just entered the classroom. By the stature of them were it three boys. By their looks however was it hard to tell. All three of them were covered from head to toe in pink paint and they had very pissed looks on their faces.

The whole classroom was silent, looking at the three pink coloured boys. It took a few moments before the first one started laughing loudly, it was Kiba. "Oh my god, that's hilarious. Hey, Naruto, that's your doing, right?" Kiba was holding his stomach because of all his laughing. He didn't liked this boy gang much and this sight was just something.

"Hmm? I don't know what you are talking about, Kiba." Naruto answered calm and innocent, not even flinching. Suddenly some of his classmates understood why he was so calm this morning. They simply put one and one together. Naruto was absent the day before on which they received the information that he was in danger. Today was he attending class like nothing happened before the boy gang appeared coloured pink completely. So the boys sent Naruto to whereever he was yesterday and got payback for that.

"YOU! That's all your fault!" the leader of the gang approached Hinata angrily, ready to strike her. "You tricked us and you'll pay for that!"

Kiba looked confused between Naruto and Hinata, just like Ino did. She thought as well that must have been Naruto's work. Hinata was way too shy to pull something like that, or even any prank at all.

Hinata flinched and tried to cover herself for the upcomming punch, but it never connected. Hanabi jumped up in order to block the punch for her sister and catched the wrist of the boy. "What? You think that my shy sister is responsible for your situation? Do you know how long I needed to talk her into wearing this outfit? She is way too kind for this world and won't harm anyone. Besides, do you think it was correct to threaten her after she tripped and fell to the ground? You even stole her school bag! Honestly, you deserve the way you look right now!"

Hanabi was shouting angrily at the boy who in return entered a rage, trying now to hit her instead of Hinata. "Oh, I get it now. It was you who pulled this prank on us. In that case will I teach you a lesson to not mess with us!" he tried to punch her with his other fist but got blocked by her again. She was now holding both his wrists.

"A lesson to not mess with you? I could say the same. It were you who tried sending Naruto to his death and if it weren't for us would he be surely dead! Hell, we all nearly died, you know?" Hanabi was entering a rage not even Hinata knew she could reach. The class was silent, listening to the exchange. Did some classmates nearly died because of other classmates of them? "Do you know how painful a fire style jutsu can be? The doctor said my arm will be scarred forever from that attack!"

Ino sitting closest to Hanabi just now realized by her words that there was indeed a scar across her right arm, where the fire style jutsu hit her the day before. She started shivering and held back her tears. Sure, she got the same information as everyone else yesterday about the dangerous situation her friends were in, but seeing this scar now hit her hard. She could have lost her closest friends.

"I should hurt you the same as I had to suffer because of you!" Hanabi still shouted at the boy leader, activating her Byakugan in order to see where to hit him to inflict maximum pain. However, she wasn't able to finish her attack, cause now it was her turn to be blocked.

While the whole class watched the scene with worry did their teacher Iruka arrive and seeing what was happening decided to interfere. "That's enough, both of you! Calm down and take your seats. NOW!" he shouted angrily and all hostilities died down right away. They just learned that their teacher could be really scary, if he wanted to.

After all of them took their seats, some of them still angry at each other and three of them still covered in pink paint, did Iruka speak up. "Listen up. I got all informations regarding the events yesterday and also what happened this morning. There will be consequences for all who are involved." Ino and Hinata comforted Hanabi who still was enraged, trying to breath deeply.

Some of their classmates were intrested in the details of the events and hoped that Iruka would tell some of them. They knew the rumours about Naruto and how the village was treating him but most didn't knew how much of that were true. But after what happened the day before they started thinking on their own. Academy just started and Naruto was in their class, they couldn't help but to build their own opinions about him and his actions now.

"First of all, Naruto, Hanabi, Hinata, you three will appear at detention for a whole week for skipping class yesterday. I am aware of the circumstances, but you still skiped class and I won't want that to happen again." Iruka started with addressing the easy part of his punishments.

Hinata simply nodded, accepting this without complaining. She still was too shy to talk back at her teacher at all. Naruto frowned mumbling something that sounded like "I knew that would happen..." but kept quiet beside of that.

Hanabi however, still in rage, spoke up. "That's not fair sensei. They were the reason that we weren't here and we nearly died!" She stood up, putting her hands on her table for support, glaring at Iruka.

"While your argument is legit and these boys baited Naruto to the battlefield, did all three of you still skip class. You could have decided to go there once Academy was over." Iruka calmly explained, waiting for Hanabi's reaction to this information. She wanted to reply something before paling, realizing that Iruka was right. She quietly sat down again, letting her head hang.

"Now that this matter is dealt with, do I want to congratulate you three on completing your first C-rank mission. You are the first to ever complete a mission while still in Academy, and then a C-rank nonetheless. I'm very impressed."

"WHAT?" Kiba shouted out loud, pointing at Naruto. "You mean this idiot got a C-rank record for skipping class? No way! That's not fair at all." He was totally upset by that information and several other students stated a similiar opinion.

"Troublesome..." it was Shikamaru. "Now will we be compared to them the whole time in the Academy. What a drag..." Ino heard his statement and chuckled to herself. Now that was intresting gossip to spread.

"If you would all please calm down. I'll tell you why this was decided by Hokage-sama. The first reason is that they worked well together as a team and confronted enemy shinobi. They didn't went there blindly but kept an eye on their surroundings the whole time, spotted the enemy and managed to confuse them to get away. While they were hunted did they still manage to inform a Jonin of the situation we could clear the area of all threats."

The class listened carefully. Some with awe, some with disintrest, some in rage. "That's bullshit. They are just Academy students who simply fled!" it was the leader of the gang who got evil glares for that statement, shrinking down in his seat.

"I'll attend to your punishment soon, so please just wait." Iruka said before sighing. "Uhm, where did I got interrupted? Right. The second reason is that they retrieved two sets of critical information for our village. If it weren't for them would we be facing a massive threat now and an unknown enemy, which we are at least aware of now because of them."

"Uhm... two sets of critical informations?" Hanabi raised her voice. "But we only brought back the kunai with the information attached. There wasn't any more..." she clearly was confused and both Naruto and Hinata nodded to that.

"I assume they learned something about the shinobi you were facing after examining their bodys, am I right?" A boy with short black hair, black glasses and a trenchcoat spoke. He usually was one of the quieter boys in class, only speaking if necessary but then talking his thoughts right away. A good observer and able to build pretty accurate conclusions.

"Yes, you are right, Shino. While the details are classified is this what happened. Hokage-sama is thankful for all these informations and their deeds to the village and that's why he decided to give these Academy students the C-rank record already." Iruka smiled, he had indeed an intresting class this time. So many promising children with so many different abilities. It might become the best generation of shinobi the village ever had.

Iruka laid his eyes on the three pink coloured boys who shrunk in their seats, fearing what might come now. "Now for you three. I am allowed to speak any kind of punishment that I see fit for what happened. And I already decided on it as well." he spoke firmly and the three boys shivered by his calmness. "You will be banned from Academy for thee whole years. You have proven that you are mentally not ready to become ninja by willingly sending a comrade to his death. Now pick up your stuff and get out of my classroom at once!"

The whole class was shocked. The kindness of their teacher disappeared completely and he was dead serious right now. They learned a valueable lesson this day. Even the kindest person can reach a point at which you don't want to be around them anymore cause they will have had enough. They saw it just minutes ago when the usually happy Hanabi got enraged and they saw it again just now, when the kind Iruka turned deadly serious, releasing an aura that promised nothing good at all.

While the three boys were leaving the classroom did Iruka address them one last time. "I wouldn't bother to wash the paint of. It's a pretty resistent one." he smiled at his class as soon as the door was closed again, returning to his kind self. "Naruto, nice work with the paint bomb inside the bag. It seems you are talented with traps, we will try to improve that during the next three years."

Naruto's jaw dropped and he watched his teacher in disbelief. "H-how can you... know that I created it?" Kiba and Ino grinned. They knew it must have been Naruto.

"I think I already said that I'm fully informed about the events that took place. Plus you used this kind of paint in previous pranks already. Oh, I nearly forgot. Hanabi, I shall give you regards from Cat. She said she was impressed that you found her." Hanabi smiled slightly and nodded. "So, now to start class. Today I want to talk about chakra. What is it, how does it work, why do we need it." half of the class frowned cause they learned these things already from their families. The other half listened intresting to what their teacher had to say.

Two sisters weren't listening and thought about their future together and the situation they were in while one blond haird boy completely paid attention to his new teacher. There was finally someone willing to teach him something...


	7. Chapter 6 - Rumours

_**Author Notes:**_ Hey, it seems like I got my own in-between chapters narration. That's so totally cool ;-)

So, regarding the following chapter: so many twists and turns. I wonder if you will be surprised by them the way I was. Yes, seriously, I hadn't planned most of them. I was simply writing and when I was finished were there these things and twists and I really wondered how my brain came up with them - and how to work with them ongoing.  
And with this chapter down on the paper am I going to try to increase the speed slightly. Getting Hinata in her new role is my top target right now, but I'll try to work it out that it doesn't seem rushed or anything.

I know, not really convincing once you read this chapter, but well... I have fun while writing it and will allow my brain to come up with things. Might become tricky tying the loose ends together along the road, but whatever *shrugs*

Lastly am I totally sorry. It somehow seems like I have a talent to start events and create cliffhangers with them right away. But hey, since I try to post a chapter weekly is the waiting time for solving them not too bad, right?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of Two Sisters – Chapter 6: Rumours**

"Finally it's over. I so hate detention. Never again." Hanabi stretched herself while leaving the Academy. She understood the reasons why they had to go to detention in the first place, but that doesn't mean that she liked it. "I will never again do something that will give me these sessions. They are even more boring than the normal classes..."

"I don't know, it wasn't too bad. Sure, it cut off several hours of free time, but all considered..." Naruto shrugged. "Could have been worse. Remember, the boy gang got banned for three years. Sure, they deserved it. But what is one week of detention compared to that?"

"Yeah, I know... I still don't like it, okay? Anyway, now that we are done with it, what are we going to do? We have two free days as well now. Any plans?" Hanabi asked while looking at Naruto, who started thinking.

"Uhm... how about we go celebrate the successful mission?" Hinata asked, looking at both of them. "We hadn't time for that because of the detention, so why don't we go now?"

"Sounds like a good idea to me. I haven't spent any of the money at all yet, so what do you say we go eat something to celebrate? My treat." Naruto smiled brightly at both girls. "And after that we could hang out in my apartment, relaxing for the rest of the day and making plans for the free days. What do you say?"

Hinata looked at Hanabi with a questioning expression who in return smiled at her sister. "Yeah, that's a good plan. We accept your invitation!" Hanabi answered for both of them. "Though... have you found a place yet that is willing to serve you food? I guess it would be easier if we would go to buy some groceries and make something ourself..." Hanabi pondered to herself.

It became routine that the girls would go and buy stuff for Naruto the last two years cause due to the way he is treated inside the village couldn't he get anything by himself. They also tried to eat at different places, but each time were the reactions the same. They declined to serve Naruto and insulted even the girls for being with him.

Naruto grinned at Hanabi and nodded. "Yeah, I found a place. They are pretty cheap and serve the best ramen I ever ate!" his expression kinda changed into a dreamy one, remembering the tasty food. For some reason felt both girls uneasy right now.

"Uhm, yeah... sure... I guess you would say that about everything if they would serve something different, simply because it's the first location to serve you something. And what was that about cheap? You want to treat us to cheap food?" Hanabi had an evil smirk on her face and Naruo sweat dropped at that, while Hinata simply sighed.

"Hanabi..." Hinata quietly said. "You are mean to Naruto-kun again." Both Naruto and Hanabi couldn't help but laughing at that. That was something that became pretty much normal between them. Hanabi commenting about Naruto and the things he said or did in a bad way and Hinata telling her to stop that. It was kinda a game to them. On one side did they enjoyed Hinata's reaction, on the other side was this one way to help her further away from her shyness.

"Common sis..." Hanabi pouted playfully. "I was only teasing him. Well, partially." she giggled. "The part about the cheap food was serious." Naruto looked at her a bit surprised before Hanabi stuck her tounge out in Naruto's direction, resulting in a frown of him.

"You know, your sarcastic humour is really something. I can't tell if you are serious or not at all." Naruto stated smiling. "Anyway, we should get going. Don't want you to starve out here." he grinned, hearing a stomach grumbling. If Hinata's blush was any indication was it hers, but he didn't commented on that. Getting a nod from Hanabi did he lead the way to the location he told them about.

They were chatting about random topics on their way, when they suddenly heard someone shouting. "HEY! Wait up you three!" it was Ino's voice, so they stopped and turned around, waiting for the girl. They could see her running in their direction, stopping in front of them while panting hard.

"Finally... catched you..." she said between deep breaths. "I wanted to pick you up after detention but you were gone already..." she had a slightly worrying tone in her voice while still trying to catch her breath.

"What's the matter, Ino?" Hanabi asked slightly worried. "Did something happen? I never saw you that irritated before." Ino nodded at that, still trying to get air back into her lung. She so needed to train a bit on her stamina was her thought while recovering.

"We were just going to get something to eat. Why don't you come along and tell us what happened?" Naruto suggested. Both Hanabi and Hinata smiled at that. They wouldn't mind having Ino's company as well.

Ino, finally having enough air answered. "Uhm, sure... guess that will work. Where are we going?" she knew as good as everybody that Naruto wasn't served anywhere, so she wondered about that.

Naruto just smiled back at her. "You will see. I recently stumbled upon that place. The food is good and cheap and they do serve me, believe it!" he somehow got overexcited to show the girls that place.

Hinata got a bit closer to Ino, whispering into her ear. "He hasn't told us either. He's making a big secret of that. But we will see soon I guess." she smiled slightly and Ino nodded, following the group toward whichever place Naruto had in mind.

"Uhm... that's it? It looks... well..." Hanabi pondered, checking out the object in front of them. It was basicly just a small stall on the street. There were a few seats in front of a counter but the interior was partially covered by some curtains. She had to admit that it smelled quite good from inside, but the looks were pretty plain.

"Remember Hanabi... he said it were cheap, so..." Hinata added her thoughts as well, getting a nod from Hanabi.

"Well, he did. Guess the rent for that stall isn't too high so they can afford cheap prices." Both of them were a bit sceptical about it, but they trusted Naruto. If he said it would be good...

"HEY! Don't talk like I wouldn't be here!" Naruto was slightly upset that the girls seemed to ignore him. "Besides, don't judge it before trying the food. And I'm inviting you, so please stop complaining."

Hanabi giggled. It was so easy to tease Naruto. "Okay, point taken. Well, let's go inside then. I'm hungry!" she exclaimed, following Naruto together with the other girls. Once past the curtain did they realize that the inside wasn't that much better. It was all pretty simple decorated, but the smell was really good indeed.

"Hey Teuchi, I'm here again!" Naruto happily shouted, gaining the attention of a slightly older man behind the counter. He was wearing a simple chef outfit and seemed to be the only person inside the stall. There were no customers right now and on the other side of the counter was he alone. Once seeing Naruto did he smile at him.

"Oh, hello again Naruto. I see you really can't get enough of my ramen, hmm? And you brought friends this time as well. Mind to introduce me?" Teuchi watched while all four of them took their seats, smiling honestly at all of them.

"Sure thing. That's Hanabi-chan, Hinata-chan and Ino-chan. They are all my classmates but we are friends for a bit longer now." he pointed from girl to girl while talking. "Can we please get 4 bowls of miso ramen? I told them that your ramen is the best and invited them to taste it." he smiled happily at Teuchi who nodded and went right at work, preparing their meals.

"So, Ino, what was it you wanted to talk about? Since we have to wait a little for our meals can you explain it now, right?" Hanabi said, looking towards Ino who nodded.

"Well, okay. You see, during the last week, while you had your detention, did I hear some new rumours. I'm pretty sure that they are just that, but... well..." Ino struggled a bit to find the best words, which surprised everyone. She never had problems talking. "Uhm... these rumours maybe are about you two, Hanabi, Hinata..."

Naruto was raising an eyebrow at that and was simply listening, intrested what Ino had to say. Hinata looked totally confused, thinking what kind of rumours these might be. She wasn't sure if she could handle being talked about behind her back. It was Hanabi who spoke. "About us? What kind of rumours? Don't tell me it's something about the mission record we got... it's not like we had any influence, it was plain random luck."

Ino shook her head and continued. "No, it's not about that. I mean, okay, sure, there is one rumour as well, but that can be ignored if you ask me. There will always be someone marked as the teachers favorite, so everything fine with that." she smiled slightly while Hanabi frowned. "It's way more... extreme... I guess. I'm not sure who came up with it either, but it's spreading fast inside the Academy."

"Ino... stop talking around and get to the point already..." Hanabi said quietly, glaring at Ino who swallowed before nodding.

"Okay, please promise to stay calm... They say that, because she is always following you and doing what you say, well... that Hinata would be your slave, Hanabi." Ino quietly said. "I've really no idea who came up with that and it's kinda stupid. Just because Hinata is shy and all... I mean, we are trying to push her a little since two years, right?"

Hinata blushed crimson red and let her head hang while Hanabi was opening and closing her mouth, but not finding words. Naruto raised an eyebrow at that before speaking. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. And I'm the one everyone hates without reason... What's wrong with two sisters who get along quite well and spending time together? I'm not having siblings, but that's what I would understand as normal!"

"I know, right? This rumour is so... far away from the truth than possible. I mean, the last record of slavery in Konoha is from the time of the first Hokage. Plus, who would get such a stupid idea as to say that two sisters would enslave each other or something. Especially considering their age. They are as old as us or even younger in Hanabi's case!" Ino entered an argument with Naruto over this rumour while both sisters were still silent.

'That's so stupid. Even if true... who would get such an idea? I don't get it at all... It's not like I would do the things to Hinata that are all described inside the books. We are just going outside together and I'm deciding what to do. But she is shy anyway, so that's totally normal, isn't it?' Hanabi thought to herself, still trying to find words to answer.

Hinata's thoughts weren't as complex as Hanabi's. 'That's so embarassing if everyone is talking about it. They can't know, but a rumour sticks around for a long time...' she wasn't moving either, letting her blushed head still hung.

"Rumours are just that, rumours. Don't get yourself depressed by them. And if they worry you, well, you are still children. Just say that you are playing." Teuchi said smiling, while placing one bowl of ramen if front of everyone, getting their attention. They were all so hard inside the discussion or their own thoughts, that none of them thought about the place they just were.

"Ah, thanks a lot, Teuchi. It looks delicious as usual. Common girls, try it. It's really the best out there!" Naruto stated excited, changing the topic from the rumour to the food in front of them.

Ino was the first to start eating, stopping after her first taste. "Not bad at all. Who would have thought that something that simple could taste that good. And is it really as cheap as Naruto said?" she asked, looking at Teuchi who handed her a menu. Ino had a quick look on it before raising an eyebrow. "Wow, now that really is cheap. Guess I have to spread this information!" her gossip senses activated themselfs by these informations. She just couldn't help her nature.

While Ino was busy with the menu did Hinata start to eat as well. She figured that there was no reason to think about that rumour, cause she wouldn't be able to do something against it anyway. So why not enjoy the meal and the company. "It's delicious. Thanks for the meal, Teuchi-san. And thanks for inviting us, Naruto-kun." she smiled slightly getting smiles from both in return.

Hanabi however was still in thoughts, holding her right forearm with her left hand, digging her fingernails into the burn scar that started slightly above her wrist and covered halfway up to her elbow on the outer side of her arm. This self inflicted pain finally got her out of her thoughts and she started eating as well.

"I don't like that rumour at all..." she was mumbling before having a first taste of the ramen, getting into a little better mood right away. "Mmh, it really is good. Sorry for teasing you about it before, Naruto." she gave him a small smile and he had a bright one for her in return.

"I told you, Hanabi-chan. It's your fault for not believing me. Teuchi is just the best. I'm super happy that I found his ramen stand." he was grinning from ear to ear before finishing his bowl of ramen. "Ah, I could eat these all day!"

Teuchi was watching his young customers with a smile on his face. "Ah, youth, so innocent and so full of feelings for each other. Nothing beats young love." he said more to himself then anybody, but they all could hear it quite well.

Ino reacted to it as first. "Yeah, Hinata-chan's feelings for Naruto are so totally visible. If she weren't so shy would she have told him already." Ino was kinda in gossip mode before realising what she just did. She looked over to Hinata who looked at her with an angry face in return, that had a full blush on it. Ino ducked down on her seat. "I'm sorry, Hinata..."

All eyes suddenly turned to Naruto, who was scratching the back of his head, also slightly blushing. "Uhm... yeah, that's embarassing, but... I know of them too for two years now..." he gave a small smile to all. "Hanabi already told me back then but I wanted to wait for Hinata to overcome her shyness and tell me. Don't wanted to push her or something..."

Hinata blushed even more, averting her angry look on Hanabi. "You... did what?" Hanabi couldn't answer and was simply shocked by the expression her sister had right now. She didn't knew that her sister could become angry at all, and her expression just now screamed to kill someone.

"Hey kids, please calm down everyone." Teuchi tried his best to solve this situation. "Please don't fight. I was just talking to myself. And I didn't meant that at all..." his tries weren't the best.

Ino however listening to him suddenly gasped and put both hands on her mouth, looking between Hanabi, Hinata and Naruto, figuring the deeper meaning of Teuchi's words. He only said them in a try to calm them down, but suddenly did she realize that all three had somehow feelings for each other and not just Hinata for Naruto. Her eyes were wide when she figured that out and she suddenly got up from her seat, turning to leave. "I just remembered something. See ya later." she quickly exclaimed before running away, not wanting to say anymore by accident.

The others left behind were irritated by that, not really understanding why Ino just left in this hurry. The positive side was, that they got distracted from their discussion about Hinata's feelings and that Hanabi spilled them back then. Naruto was the first to get out of this state, addressing Teuchi with his next words.

"So, anyway, I'm paying for all. We actually wanted to celebrate, but guess we will do that another time, since we got distracted today." after handing over the money did he turn towards the girls, smiling. "So, let's go to my apartment. We still need to plan what to do on our free days." he had a bright smile on his face again, like the whole rumour and feeling discussion would have never happened.

The girls thanked Teuchi for the meal that really was good before getting up and following Naruto through the streets to his apartment.

Naruto's Apartment

Once they arrived did Hanabi aim straight for the couch and sat down on it, stretching her body and yawning. "Somehow am I way more tired than usual. What a stressful day..."

Hinata sat down beside her, watching around the apartment while talking. "I'm still angry at you. Why did you tell him? You knew how I feel for him and that I wanted to overcome my shyness before telling him. But you already told him two years ago? And you never said a word about it?" she just couldn't help but feeling betrayed by her sister.

"Oh, common sis... It was the day I met Naruto for the first time and I just told him to proove that there are people who don't hate him at all. If you remember are we his very first friends at all. I just wanted to help him, you know?" Hanabi replied, looking her sister into the eyes.

"I understand that, but... do you know how I feel? Having feelings you can't talk about and then being betrayed, getting even more feelings that combined with the first ones create something terrible you barely can stand at all?" Hinata became furious talking to her sister.

"Uhm... would you please calm down?" Naruto interrupted. "And please don't talk about me like I wouldn't be here. You know, I'm right here, see?" he waved at them, trying to get their attention, but without any success.

"Oh, and you think that I'm totally without feelings and emotions or what? That I'm just a little girl that doesn't know anything about these things?" Hanabi was getting furious as well, starting to shout at her sister.

"I never said that! But it hurts being betrayed by your own family. And more by your own sister which you love with all your heart. I trusted you with all my secrets and now do I learn that you spilled one of them two years ago. When will you talk about the next one, huh?" Hinata's voice got louder as well. Not to mention that she was straight forward right now, nothing from her shy self was around at this moment.

"Now am I the evil one here, or what?" Hanabi asked, getting somehow frustrated by that argument. "Okay, then I'll play evil. Now shut the hell up and know your place, sl-..."

"THAT'S ENOUGH! STOP IT ALREADY!" Naruto shouted, silencing both girls in an instant. "Yes, something went wrong in the past. But will it change it to discuss and shout about it? No, it won't. So just calm down, appologize and be the happy sisters you always were!" he was breathing hard from his shouting, but it worked. Both girls look first at him and then to the ground, feeling guilty quite the same.

"I'm sorry sis..." Hanabi was mumbling, not daring to look up. "I know I shouldn't have done that. And I had no right to yell at you..."

Hinata hugged her sister, whispering into her ear. "It's okay, Hanabi. Really. I... am sorry too. But, uhm..." she blushed slightly, lowering her voice even more that Naruto really wouldn't be able to hear it. "You know what you were going to call me, right?"

Hanabi was slightly confused by that, not knowing what her sister meant. It took her some moments before she realized that she was about to call her sister a slave. In front of Naruto. While yelling at her. Inside an apartment which probably wouldn't have thick walls. Which the whole building might have heard. She put both hands on her mouth to cover it, while paling.

Hinata was comforting her sister, gently rubbing her back. Naruto smiled at the scene. "See, isn't that better. You get along so well, don't let it be ruined by such a thing. Want something to drink?" he went over to his kitchen to catch something to drink for all three.

"I... I lost my temper right now. I'm really sorry for that. Both of you, I'm sorry." Hanabi said, finally returning to her normal self. She took the offered drink thankfully, devouring it with one big gulp. It was just water, but it helped her to settle down.

'Heh, I like that girl.' Naruto could hear a quiet voice deep inside his head. Actually, he wasn't sure if he heard something at all. It was more like a silent sound inside the wind. If at all. Must have been his imagination. "Now that we are all calmed down, I think we wanted to make some plans for our free days. So, any suggestions?" he smiled brightly at the girls, happy that they weren't attacking each other anymore.

Both Hanabi and Hinata thought about it, touching their lower lips at the same time. Hinata was the first to talk. "How about we go shopping together? We still have our money from the mission, so..." she couldn't finish her sentence, cause Hanabi shook her head, interrupting her sister.

"You know that this won't work, sis. Not if Naruto is with us. Basicly none of the shops would let him in at all..." she said quietly, looking to the ground. Naruto frowned at that comment, but he knew she was right.

"Uhm... then how about we go train somewhere?" Hinata offered as second idea, getting looks from both Hanabi and Naruto, who thought about it.

"On our free days? We just finish one week of detention and you want to train already? That's... I don't know..." Hanabi shook her head on that, but Naruto was still in thought. Both girls looked at him, wondering what he was thinking right now, and they didn't need to wait for much longer.

Naruto was starting to talk out his thoughts. "I heard about a small ruin in the eastern forest. We could go there and check it out. We may be able to find something intresting at all. Plus we could also train a little while out there. What do you think?" he smiled at them, getting distrusting looks in return.

"No offense, but... do you remember what happened the last time we went into a forest surrounding the village? What if this information is false, dangerous or a trap again?" Hanabi raised an eyebrow while showing him her right forearm, giving him a good look at her scar.

Naruto chuckled nervously at that, trying to not look at her arm at all. In fact was he feeling guilty about that whole situation. If it weren't for him would Hanabi not be marked for the rest of her life with this burned scar at all. But before the whole situation became embarassing to them did Hinata speak up.

"Actually... I read about these ruins in a book. It shall be a small outpost from the time of the founding of this village. But they got scavenged so often that there won't be anything intresting at all I guess." All three of them entered their thoughts again, thinking about what else they could do.

Hanabi was getting more comfortable on the couch and closed her eyes, trying to come up with something. "Well, we might go and check it out, I guess. But... maybe we should tell someone that we are going there? I mean, what if something happens again? We will most likely not be as lucky as last time when we managed to contact the spooky white hair guy."

"That would be an option." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "But wouldn't we get bothered if we tell someone? I mean, since everyone hates me wouldn't we create a bad situation that way?"

Hanabi sighed and nodded. She came to the same conclusion while she spoke about her idea. "The only ones we might be able to tell are Iruka-sensei, the spooky white hair guy and Cat-san. But they most likely won't be thrilled to keep an eye on us. Isn't that right, Cat-san?" Hanabi asked innocently, getting confused looks from both Naruto and Hinata.

They could hear the sigh of a female, who then appeared at the window of the apartment, sitting down on the sill. "You know, I preferred it when I could tell that a Hyuga is using their eyes. But with you girl... each time you close your eyes to relax or whatever is there the risk of you activating them without anyone to notice it."

Hanabi giggled, finally opening her eyes again. "I can't help it. It kinda happens out of instinct when I'm relaxing. It's not even using much energy at all. But trying to use it while moving is something different..." she explained, smiling towards Cat.

"You know, this might keep you alive for a longer time. One of the biggest risks a shinobi has to take is being helpless while resting." Cat stated matter of factly.

"Mind telling us why you are observing us? Did the old man ask you to do that?" Naruto asked the ANBU, watching her carefully. He was sure that she didn't hate him from the few times he got in contact with her. First in the hospital after their adventure and he later learned from Hanabi that she was watching their prank as well.

Cat chuckled by the way Naruto was addressing the Hokage but shook her head. "Well, not exactly. It's more a favor I'm doing for Kakashi, but Hokage-sama has allowed it."

"Spooky white hair guy? Seriously, he is freaking me out somehow. Why is he intrested in us anyway?" Hanabi asked, thinking about her encounters with Kakashi.

Cat started laughing, getting confused looks from all three kids. "Okay, please, you have to tell me. How did you come up with that name? He usually goes by Cyclops if we want to annoy him because of the way he is covering basicly his whole face and one eye. But from what I heard is this name really bothering him. I just have to know."

Hanabi couldn't help laughing to herself by that information and Hinata giggled quietly, just observing the situation at all. She saw no reason to enter the talk. "Oh, that's pretty simple." Hanabi started to answer. "When I met him the first time was it inside an alley when he caught Naruto after a prank." Cat nodded slightly, showing that she knew this story.

"Anyway, he stood there in the shadows, holding Naruto when I arrived. And all you could see from him was his white hair. Like a ghost in the shadows. That's why I named him spooky white hair guy." she was grinning from ear to ear.

All of them burst into laughter by that explanation. Hinata and Naruto cause they didn't knew this story yet. They simply assumed that Hanabi had her reasons for this name. And Cat because she imagining a absent mindly ghost reading a book.

Naruto was the first to get back to serious, addressing Cat again. "You still haven't told us why exactly you are observing us. And then inside my apartment at all..." he looked at Cat who smiled behind her mask, not that they could see it.

"As I said, I'm doing Kakashi a favor with it. I don't know his reasons, but it is a nice change to my usual work. You three are kinda fun to watch." She got a frown from Hanabi and Naruto by that statement and Hinata suddenly blushed slightly, now deciding to enter the talk.

"Uhm... so you overheard our discussions at the ramen stand as well?" that got her the attention of all. None of them had thought about the possibility of anyone listening into their conversations.

"Yes, I did. Not to mention your argument some minutes ago, even so that could be heard by half the village I guess. But don't worry, I'm not one to spread rumours." she got two angry and one worried look by that statement and decided to continue. "Oh, common kids, I'm a professional, you know? I mean, look at me. ANBU."

All three decided at the same moment to accept their defeat. They couldn't change the fact that someone listened on them and she is right, she is an ANBU and will most likely not talk about it.

Hinata was putting her fingers together, looking at Cat. "Uhm... if we decide to go to the ruins tomorrow, will you..." she wasn't able to finish her sentence, cut off by Cat who shook her head.

"No, I won't. I'm having something to do tomorrow. But I can inform Kakashi to keep the earpiece with him, just in case. As far as I know is he free tomorrow and in the village." Cat answered, getting a hopeful look from Hinata.

"Sounds good to me. What do you think, Hanabi?" Naruto asked, watching her carefully. He may be older, but he already realized that Hanabi is way smarter. She was having the plan when they went to the battlefield in the northern forest and was pretty quick with conclusions, so he left the decision to her.

Hanabi nodded at that question. "I'm okay with it. Please inform the spooky white hair guy, Cat-san. Then it's decided that we are going to the ruins in the eastern forest tomorrow. Maybe we can find something and if not can we at least do some practice out there."

Cat nodded her understanding and left the window sill, wishing the kids a nice evening. "So, what now? Do you two need to go already or can we hang out some more?" Naruto asked, smiling at the girls.

Hinata was looking towards her sister, waiting for her decision. Hanabi thought a moment about that, before answering. "Sorry, but we have to go for today." she appologized to Naruto before looking towards Hinata. "Sis and I need to discuss some things in private..."

Naruto nodded slightly. "It's about these rumours, right? Don't let them bother you. As Teuchi said, try to ignore them or tell that you are just playing. They are just rumours after all." he smiled at both girls who nodded and smiled in return, before giving their goodbyes to Naruto for the day.

'But I do wonder... how do you play slave at all? Playing slave... hmm... Maybe I should ask Teuchi what he meant by that?' Naruto thought to himself, before slowly calling it a day.

Hyuga compound

Both girls sat in Hinata's room in complete silence. Hanabi made herself comfortable on Hinata's bed while Hinata sat down at her desk, both in their own thoughts. After a while was it Hinata to finally break the silence.

"Do you think... that someone found out? These rumours are bothering me totally. What if everyone will recognize me as a slave from now on? Not using my name, treating me badly, hating me for that? I... I don't know what to do..." she quietly asked the questions bothering her, barely managing to hold back her tears.

"Don't cry sis. I'm uncomfortable with these rumours as well, but... I guess at one point would people learn anyway. Do you know why I'm trying to get you away from your shy self since that day?" Hinata looked at Hanabi and shook her head. "Because I believe that if you are an open minded girl, strong and sure of yourself, that our friends will accept the situation, once we decide to tell them. If you are all that will it not look like the shy little girl being forced to be a slave, but like the strong-willed one being fine with that."

Hinata was listening to her sisters thoughts, starting to think about it as well. "You see, the words from Teuchi-san today had a deeper meaning to them. I don't think that he knows, but what he meant by pretending that we play? It was more meant like even if others might look disgusted or confused at this situation, as long as we show that we both are fine with it, is everything fine. Playing children are carefree. So if we are the same with this situation..." Hanabi smiled reassuring at her sister.

Hinata tried to follow Hanabi's way of thinking, before paling. "Does that mean... that... I-I-Ino a-and Na-Na-ruto..." she looked with a expression between sadness and fear at her sister, who in return shook her head.

"No, of course not. They don't know anything. They are trying to help you out of your shyness because they think that you being more open-minded suits you. Plus they want to help you with your self confidence." Hinata nodded at her sisters words. "Nobody should know right now. But at some time do we need to inform a few people about it. Like... I don't know. Father? Hokage-sama? You told me yourself that you accepted the situation cause you don't see yourself getting your freedom back anytime soon. But as clan heiress... father needs to know, some day." Hanabi said quietly.

"I... don't like that. But I can understand it... and Hokage-same needs to know that there is a slave inside the village, right?" Hanabi nodded slightly, getting a small sigh from Hinata in return. "This will be so embarassing once they know..."

"And that's why we are working on your shyness, sis. Everything will turn out okay." she got up from the bed walking over to where her sister sat, hugging her. "Trust me, everything will be fine. And when the time comes to tell, we both will be ready for that."

Hinata was glad for her sisters kindness towards her and for the comforting hug. She really needed that right now. After some more time in silence did she pull away from her sister, smiling at her. "Thank you, Hanabi. I really needed that. I will do my best."

"I'm sure that you will. Cause you are my sis. And if you don't, well..." she couldn't help but grinning slightly. "I do know of ways to motivate you. The books are full of them." Hinata shivered slightly by these words and Hanabi giggled. "Just kidding sis. Just kidding... for now." she stuck her tounge out at Hinata who blushed and nodded. She would really do her best.

The next day

Hanabi and Hinata stood in front of Naruto's apartment. They were carrying some bags filled with groceries and had just knocked on his door. They hadn't spoken about that, but they guessed that Naruto would be in need of new food supplies and since he usually wasn't getting up too early in the morning did they decide to bring him some and to have breakfast together. This way would they be able to talk in slightly more detail about the day's planned activities.

It took some time before Naruto opened the door, rubbing one of his eyes. Seeing the girls at his door did he yawn loudly, before speaking. "Oh, it's you... morning... you are pretty early. Come in..." he yawned again and turned around, walking back into his bedroom to get dressed.

The sisters however stood some moments in front of his door, both slightly blushed the same by the look they just had. Naruto had open the door only wearing boxers, being too tired to actually care for his state of clothing. Plus it's his apartment, so why should he bother in the morning?

Once they got out of their shock did they enter the apartment and went for the kitchen, to put the groceries away. Hinata started making some easy breakfast for all of them, while Hanabi went over to the couch sitting down. Since she had nothing to do while waiting did she relax, closing her eyes.

It only took a few seconds however before she could feel a hand resting on her shoulder. "You know, maybe you should stop relaxing so often. Sure, you said it wouldn't use much energy, but isn't it bothersome if your eyes always activate on instinct once you relax?" Naruto asked her, being fully dressed when he came back from his bedroom.

"Honestly? It would be nice to just close my eyes and focus on nothing once in a while... With all the things I see while relaxing is my brain working more or less all the time to sort the informations out. Am already working on figuring how to only activate them when I want to, not automatically on instinct each time." Hanabi explained, having opened her eyes.

Naruto gave her a bright smile. "I believe that you will learn how to very soon. After all are you pretty smart and always quick with your brain." Hanabi nodded slightly, thankful for his words.

"She will be for sure. She has so many talents and will be clan head one day. Controlling her Byakugan shouldn't be a challenge for her." Hinata said while bringing breakfast for the three of them.

"That looks delicious, Hinata-chan. Thank you very much!" Naruto exclaimed happily, sitting down to dig into the food. Hinata couldn't help but blush at this compliment.

"Yeah, sis sure knows how to cook. She will make a good wife in the future, that I'm sure of!" Hanabi exclaimed grinning, raising her sister's blush to a crimson red.

"Stop it, Hanabi! I thought that we agreed that you would stop teasing me!" Hinata said slightly furious, looking her sister directly into the eyes.

"Huh, did we?" Hanabi tilted her head to the side, putting her finger on her lower lip in a thinking pose. "I can only remember that we talked about teasing you with your feelings for Naruto. Not that I could do that anymore anyway, since what happened yesterday..." she had a nervous smile on her face just now, thinking about the information bomb that exploded the day before regarding Hinata's feelings.

"Don't remind me on that! I... I... ARGH!" Hinata dug her finger nails into her leg, trying to calm down a little. "This topic is off limits for now. Bring it up again and I... can't gurantee for anything!" she was kinda furious, the betrayel to her still fresh in her mind.

Naruto watched nervously, not daring to interfere. On the other side was the thought about the girls having another way too loud argument like the day before not the best either.

"Oh, are you threatening me? That's intresting sis. You do know that I'm having possibilities, right? So many possibilities and you are going to not like any of them..." Hanabi grinned. "Or do you want to make a new bet with me? I'm willing to give you good conditions, but the pay will be high if you loose again."

"Seriously? What higher price could it be, considering what I paid the last time? You want to destroy my life or what?" Hinata asked sarcastical.

Hanabi raised an eyebrow. "Why would I want to destroy you, sis? There wouldn't be any fun in it. And for whom do you take me, suggesting that I would kill my own sis? Common..."

"Uhm... could you both please calm down?" Naruto asked super nervous, not knowing what was happening between the two sister. Hanabi was far away from her usual happy self and Hinata was far away from her usual shy self. It felt like both did a complete turn with their personalities. And both seemed to ignore him again.

"I wish I would have never made this stupid bet..." Hinata said, averting her eyes away from Hanabi.

"What was that? Didn't you tell me just a week ago that you are fine with it and that you would totally accept the situation? So you lied to me, sis, didn't you?" Hanabi got even more upset while Hinata shrank down on her seat.

"NO! I haven't lied to you. It's just... that... uhm..." Hinata lost her focus, trying to think of a reply to her sister.

"Okay, I got it sis. You can finish with this nonsense now. I've made my decision. I' so going to read the book now." Hanabi stated in a matter of fact tone, glancing at Hinata.

"Huh? Why would I care if you read a book?" Hinata was slightly confused by her sisters statement, not catching up to her thoughts.

"You know, the book you don't want me to read? I'll take it once we are home. Be happy that I'm being gentle with you on that one. I could do so much more..." Hanabi was a bit calmer by now, trying to focus on her breah to calm down even more.

Hearing her sisters words did Hinata pale visibly. "No, you can't read it. Please, don't do that, Hanabi..." she said quietly.

Hanabi raised an eyebrow. "Are you talking back to me? I can do something different as well, but you aren't going to like that sis, promised."

"I... I..." Hinata tried to voice a reply, but failed, letting her head fall in defeat. She lost against her sister, again.

Seeing her sister finally giving up put a smile on Hanabi's face. It felt good to her, being successful in this matter. She couldn't explain it, but it felt right.

"Girls..." Naruto spoke up, deciding that the silence would be a good time now. He had no idea what just happened between both sisters. "Would you please explain to me what you just talked about? And I never saw both of you like that. It was... scary..."

Hanabi blinked her eyes a few times, like getting out of a daze, focusing on Naruto while Hinata blushed a crimson red, still looking down at the ground. "I... we... uhm... I don't know... For some reason did I got all excited and furious. I..." she shook her head. "I have no idea. I had the same feeling yesterday when we were in your apartment..."

"Me too..." Hinata said quietly, not daring to look up. She was embarassed, remembering the discussion she just had right in front of Naruto which none of them really cared for. Lucky for them did none use the word slave just now, leaving Naruto pretty confused and in the dark. Though they weren't sure why they both lost their temper just now. Or why the same happened the day before.

"Uhm... okay... if you say so..." Naruto wasn't quite sure what he should think right now, so he decided to trust both girls. "So... are you both okay? You aren't fighting, right? Everyone is fine?" he put a nervous smile on his face. Hinata finally looked up and over towards Hanabi, who nodded.

"Yeah, we are fine. And no, we aren't fighting. Why don't we say we were just playing? You know, like that Teuchi guy suggested." Hanabi scratched the back of her neck with her hand, feeling some cold sweat on it. The whole situation made her totally nervous. One reason was the fact, that she tried desperately to hide their secret from Naruto. The second and more major reason however was the fact that she weren't able to think of a reason why both of them entered this kind of state.

"Great, I'm glad. I wouldn't know what to do if you two would start to fight each other. So why don't we just forget what just happened here and go already into the eastern forest? The ruins are waiting for us!" Naruto exclaimed happily, standing up and walking straight out of his apartment, leaving the girls behind. For some reason did he want to get away from his apartment as quick and far away as possible. He wanted to get away from the insanity he witnessed two times now happening inside it.

Both girls looked at the open door dumbfounded before Hanabi spoke up. "Uhm, I'm sorry sis. I really don't know what just happened."

"It's alright, really. Uhm.. will you..." Hinata started, but got interrupted by Hanabi.

"Yes, I will read your book. You won't get away from that." she grinned slightly. "Well, let's go already. We need to catch up to Naruto!" Hanabi stood up as well, walking over to the door and turning around there to look at Hinata.

Hinata sighed. This would turn out ugly for her, she just knew it. Hanabi would surely tease her about the book. Accepting her fate for now did she stood up as well, walking towards Hanabi to follow Naruto to the eastern forest. The day just started, but she wished it would be over already. She had a feeling that this day would become even worse for her...


	8. Chapter 7 - Adventure! 2

_**Author Note:**_ I know the chapter title is weak - but the chapter itself turned out pretty good I think. As in every story there are lighter and darker chapters and this is one of the darker ones so far I guess. Read and judge for yourselfs.

But I'm sure that none of you might have expected these things to happen ;-)  
If you did, well... congratulations, your mind is even more twisted than mine and you are able to read me like an open book.

What else? Ah, right. I'm slightly ahead of my shedule and already started on the next chapter. While I chickend out the last two tries am I planning to now finally write down the first real battle in it. Hope it turns out okay in the end.

Last thing: So many cliffhangers again. I'm really good using them.  
However, whatever thing you find having thoughts like "why is that" or "this could be explained" or "what the hell?" be assured that I plan to pick up every open string along the way to either explain or refer to it. It might need some chapters before that happens and I'm sure I can build in some surprises for you that way - but I won't forget to clarify open things, promise! ;-)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of Two Sisters - Chapter 7: Adventure #2**

The girls met with Naruto at the eastern gate, who was waiting for them. It seemed like they needed more time to follow him then they realized, if he was that far ahead already. They hadn't paid much attention to it, but the eastern gate was not guarded this morning and they could leave the village without problems, heading toward the forest.

"Hmm, it's so foggy today, I can't barely see five meters ahead..." Hinata said, speaking what all of them were thinking. This morning were the surroundings of the village covered in a real thick mist. "Maybe we should go back to the village? What if we get lost or if something happens? Nobody will find us..." she was totally worried by these thoughts.

Naruto got close to her, laying his hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile. "Everything will be fine, Hinata-chan. Nothing can happen if we three stick together. Besides..." he looked at her curiously. "Aren't your eyes able to see through even this thick mist?"

Hinata blinked a few times, looking at Naruto before changing to Hanabi who had a grin on her face, before looking back at Naruto again and sighing. "I... hadn't thought about that. Yes, you are right. Our eyes are able to do that." she answered his question, getting an even bigger smile from him.

"See, then there is nothing to worry about. With two pairs of your eyes won't we get lost at all!" he exclaimed happily, before walking right into the mist in the direction of the forest.

Hanabi giggled. "Naruto? Wrong direction. And... what was that with staying together?" Hinata couldn't help but smile at her sisters comment and Naruto's carefree character, before hearing a frown inside the mist.

"Yeah, right... uhm... girls? Could you please pick me up? I can't see you anymore..." he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

Hanabi bursted into laughter, giving her sister a sign that she shall get him. Hinata nodded and activated her Byakugan, looking for Naruto inside the mist to get him back, before starting to laugh as well. "Naruto-kun, you just walked 5 meters away. Do a simple step backwards and you will see us again." her mood increased because of this situation, letting her forget what had happened just minutes ago in Naruto's apartment.

Naruto did as told and made the step backward, looking over his shoulder to see the girls again, grinning at them. "Uhm, sorry for that. So... please lead the way."

Once reunited did Hanabi speak up. "Hey sis, you read about these ruins, right? So you kinda know about their location? You will lead the way then. Plus it will be a good practice for your Byakugan."

Hinata nodded at her sister and first checked the surroundings for the correct direction, before leading them into the mist with Hanabi and Naruto staying close to her. Even if they had two pairs of Byakugan did they don't want to risk loosing one of them in the mist.

It took them around 20 minutes walking through the forest, before reaching a clearing on which the rumoured ruins stood. There wasn't much left of them, mostly just some remainings of the walls. It must have been a slightly bigger building in the past, maybe with 7 rooms or something, but that was time ago.

"Doesn't look too impressive to me..." Hanabi mentioned, checking out the remainings. "I don't think this will be worth it at all."

"Hmm... it seems like two rooms in the back of the ruins are still intact. The roof isn't collapsed there. Since we are here already, why don't we check it out?" Hinata asked, checking out the ruins with her Byakugan still activated.

"Sure thing! That's why we came here in the first place, right?" Naruto exclaimed excited, walking toward the ruins just to be stopped by Hanabi pulling on his arm.

"And again, what was that with staying together?" she raised an eyebrow at Naruto who chuckled nervously while Hinata shook her head.

"Uhm, sorry, okay?" Naruto said nervously. "So, shall we check it out then?" he asked this time, getting smiles and nods from both girls. Once that was settled did they walk over to the ruins together.

They aimed straight for one of the rooms that were still standing, ignoring the completely destroyed ones. There wouldn't be anything to find at all, so why bother with looking for something. At the door to the first room did they stop, checking it out.

"Hmm, this door is a massive one. Wonder if it will move at all after these years." Hanabi wondered, pushing against the door with no success. "Hey you two, would you help me with that?" she asked, still trying to push the door open.

Hinata and Naruto joined her in this effort, all pushing against the door together. They could hear slight protest of the material against their efforts, but the door slowly gave up.

"It's opening. Common, just one last push." Naruto said between hard breathes, encouraging the girls to give their all for one final push. With combined effort did the door finally open, though the last push was a bit too much, having it swing open abruptly. All three of them lost their halt by that and stumbled into the room, falling over each other.

Hanabi groaned in pain, being the one to fall first, landing on the hard ground with the other two landing atop her. The pressure emptied her lungs and she was trying desperately to get air back into her lungs.

The other two were just surprised by the sudden movement of the door, but not injured at all. So out of shock did they not move at all, before they could hear Hanabi's voice.

"Get... down..." she gritted her teath, bringing out these words with much effort. That got the other out of the shock and Hanabi was finally able to take some deep breathes, calming down. She wasn't injured either, but the lack of oxygen might have been a problem, if it would have lasted just some seconds longer.

"I'm sorry, Hanabi..." Hinata quietly said, helping her sister to stand up. "It just happened so fast."

Hanabi nodded slightly, before giving her sister a small smile. "It's okay, nothing bad happened. So, let's look around, shall we?" she asked, turning to face the inside of the room, to just freeze in her movements. The other two weren't moving either, once they took a look into the room.

"That's... I don't know..." Naruto said, missing his usual enthusiasm. Hinata simply kept silent by what she saw. It then was Hanabi who started shouting.

"Are you kidding me? All this effort and the pain for... this? That's so not cool at all..." she frowned, looking around the room.

The thing that got all three of them confused and frustrated was the fact that this room was completely empty. No piece of broken furniture, no withered scroll, no lost belongings, just an empty room.

"The ruins are old..." Hinata thought out loud. "So maybe they got scavenged a long time ago. Or it got completely emptied when it was left by the occupants."

"I know... but it's still frustrating..." Hanabi sighed. She knew that her sister was right and that they would most likely find nothing at all. But she had hoped that there may be at least anything to find.

"We can still check the other room." Naruto suggested, getting nods from the girls. They turned around and left the room, heading to the second one.

This time the door wasn't as massive as the first one and it opened without protest when Hanabi tried it. This room however was empty as well, except for a pretty big rock laying in the middle of the room.

"I understand that this room is empty as well, but..." Naruto started speaking. "Why is there a rock in the middle of the room?"

"Hmm... the ceiling is still intact so it hadn't dropped down. I wonder..." Hanabi pondered while touching her lower lip, before activating her Byakugan and checking the room and the rock. A smirk entered her face when she announced. "Because there is a hidden door below it."

"Seriously? Then we might be able to still find something. That's great!" Naruto shouted happily, getting a small blush from Hinata.

"Uhm, Naruto-kun? You know that we need to get the rock away first, right?" she quietly asked, getting a confused look from Naruto who needed some moments to realize that his enthusiasm got him carried away again.

He let his head hang. "You are right..." he sighed, before looking back up. "So... any ideas?"

All of them thought about it, before Hinata spoke up. "How about we get some branches from the trees to put them under the rock and push it away this way?"

"That should work." Hanabi nodded. "Alright, let's get us some branches that might work for that."

"Got that!" Naruto exclaimed happily, leaving the room already and heading for the nearest trees.

"Naruto!" Hanabi shouted angrily, stopping him in his tracks right away. "It's still foggy. Stay together..." he sweatdropped at her statement and waited for the girls to catch up to him.

It took them a good one and an half hour to get the rock away from the hidden door and all of them were totally spent.

"Then let's have a look down there, shall we?" Naruto asked before pulling on the handle of the trapdoor, getting it open surprisingly easy. They could see stairs leading down into a basement, which was totally dark.

"Has someone thought about bringing some lights or fire?" Hanabi asked, getting negative responses from the other two. "Me neither..." she mumbled, feeling guilty for not thinking about these things before they came here.

"Aren't your eyes working in the dark as well?" Naruto asked, getting looks from both girls. Hanabi shrugged her shoulders and Hinata was the one to speak this time. "We... never tried that." she admitted, before activating her Byakugan, looking down the stairs with it. "It isn't as good as light, but it works." she said after a while.

"Okay, that means Naruto will wait up here and we are going down. Ready sis?" Hanabi asked, activating her Byakugan as well, getting a nod from her sister. Naruto waited at the top of the stairs while watching the girls disappearing in the darkness.

Once down in the basement did they stop in the entrance, checking out the room. "Hmm, seems to be just one room, not the largest either." Hanabi stated, having checked the walls with her eyes.

"What are these things?" Hinata asked, having discovered some withered furniture in the middle of them room. Hanabi was looking at them as well, thinking about it.

She needed some moments before she answered. "They look like torture devices." she spoke quietly. "There were images in one of the books. The one is looking like a spiked chair. The victim is restrained on it, being pressed into the spikes... This... might have been a room for interogation. You said it was an outpost from the time of the village founding?"

Hinata nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's what was written in the book I read. Uhm... what is that?" she pointed on one of the devices. She knew that even if it was totally dark down here was her sister still able to see her pointing and the object she pointed at. She actually never thought about it, but right now did she start to appreciate her eyes for their usefullness.

Hanabi followed her hand and looked at the object, thinking for a little while, before realizing it. It was partially withered away, but the metal atop the triangle shaped wooden object gave her the final clue. "That's... the horse." she whispered. "It's used for torturing women..." her voice was nearly down to nothing. The things she read about that device were just too cruel and remembering it wasn't nice at all.

Hinata wanted to ask how it worked, but decided against it. She felt that her sister wasn't in the mood to talk about it more than necessary. Trying to change the topic and after looking around a bit more did she speak up again. "Hey, see that table there? There is a scroll on it." she said, getting her sister out of her thoughts.

Hanabi's mind was busy with the things she read in the book about torture devices, being kinda lost in these thoughts, if her sister hadn't spoken up to get her out of them. She was looking over towards the table and saw the scroll her sister mentioned, walking over there to pick it up and put it away.

"Let's get out of here..." she said quietly. "There doesn't seem to be anything more down here and Naruto is waiting for us." Hinata nodded in agreement and both went back up the stairs.

Naruto was strolling around the room, waiting for the girls. He was sure that nothing happened to them, but waiting wasn't any of his strong abilities. The girls were down there for ten minutes before they finally got back to the surface.

"Glad you are back." he smiled at them. "So, what did you find?"

"A room filled with torture devices..." Hanabi stated, her eyes slightly unfocused.

Naruto was worried about her expression, pulling her into a hug that luckyly did the trick in bringing her back again. Seeing them in real was something different than reading about them. Hanabi needed time to sort her thoughts out.

"And we found a scroll." Hinata added. "Let's have a look, Hanabi." she smiled at her sister who for now were completely back with them.

"Sure." she pulled the scroll out of her pocket that all three of them could take a look.

Naruto took the scroll from her, trying to open it but failed. "It seems like it is sealed. We need to ask someone about it once we are back in the village." trying two more times but failing the same did he nod at his own statement and stored the scroll away in his clothes.

"At least did we find something, so it wasn't for nothing." Hanabi smiled slightly, being over her thoughts for the moment. She would think about it more once she was home and in her room. "So, shall we eat something?" she asked, looking at the other two.

"Yeah, sounds good. I'm starving!" Naruto exclaimed, looking at the girls.

"Uhm..." Hinata looked at the other two as well. "I think we forgot to bring proviant..."

All three of them were silent, looking at each other, before realizing that Hinata was totally right. They hadn't thought about something to eat as well. In fact did they go completely unprepared and the fog was still as thick as hours ago.

"Change of plans, we are heading back to the village right away." Hanabi stated, getting nods from the others.

They left the ruins and turned in the direction of the village, starting to walk back. However, after just some meters did they hear a shout. "Earth Style: Raising Walls!" and huge walls of earth were raising from the ground right in front of them and at both of their sides. They quickly turned around to see three figures standing at the opening left.

"Well, well, look what we got here. Seems like some kids walked right into our trap." one of the figures stated, the voice a deep male one.

"It sure was a good idea to spread some rumours about these ruins. It was just a matter of time before some would want to check them out." the second figure stated, the voice male as well, but pretty high.

"Two girls and a boy. I'm not sure about the boy, that will depend, but the girls should bring us some good profit." the third stated. The voice was of a female, something between seduction and slyness in it.

Hinata paled at the situation. She remembered what happened just a bit over a week ago. The difference however was that they could run back then. But now...

Naruto reacted quickly, standing in front of the girls and raising his fists. That got him a chuckle from the female. "Look at that, the boy is trying to defend his girlfriends. How cute... and useless." she grinned, getting laughs from her companions.

Naruto frowned at that, but he kept his temper. He was aware that he wouldn't be able to fight them, but he would try if he had to. What he wanted to do just now however was to cover Hanabi from view, that she could get the earpiece out without anyone noticing it. After all did they at least make a plan for when something might go wrong.

Hanabi was doing exactly that, but suddenly cursed silently. "It's broken..." she whispered. "Must have happened when we entered the first room..."

She dropped the earpiece to the ground, angered by her bad luck. So much for their plan to inform this Kakashi guy if something happened. Now would nobody know that they were in trouble and nobody would come to help them.

Hinata hearing her sisters words bit her lip. 'We are in trouble here. No... this is worse, it's life threatening to us. I know that I'm lacking confidence, I know that... but... if I'm not doing something now... there won't be another time. I need to protect my sister... no... my... misstress.' her thoughts went wild before she made a decision, stepping forward beside Naruto and entering the Hyuga fighting stance, willing to defend herself and her sister.

"Oho, the girly seems to be a brave one. Or is she just desperate to protect the little one? Not that it will help." the female chuckled again.

Hanabi started to panick, seeing her sister step forward. "No... you are too weak, sis..." she quietly said, grabbing her right arm right where her scar was, dropping down on her knees. The memory of her being nearly burned, the pain she felt when the fire hit her arm, the situation she was facing right now. It was too much for her. Still holding her arm did her expression went blank, the events finally catching up to her. She was traumatized.

Hinata could feel that her sister's emotions went crazy so she turned back around and got in front of her sister, down on her knees as well, hugging her. "Hanabi..." she whispered, holding her sister close to herself. That was all she could do now, holding and comforting her sister.

Naruto watching all this became angry. At himself, at the three figures in front of him, at the village that treated him badly, at everything. He couldn't control his rage and he charged blindly forward swinging his fists.

The female got annoyed by that display. "Hmm, the boy doesn't seem to know anything about fighting. This stance..." she shook her head. "Well, these three should bring us a bunch of money, so..." she stretched herself, before speaking a bit louder. "Do it. The profit should be high, so with them will the debt of your master be paid."

None of the three kids were paying attention to the female. Hanabi was still in shock and unresponsible, Hinata held her in her hug, not moving at all and Naruto tried to close the distance to the figures to attack. However, a fourth voice could be heard inside the fog, coming from all directions. "Ice Style: Chilling Mist" was all the voice said, before the air cooled down rapidly.

The girls weren't able to move anymore due to the cold temperature, not that they tried at all in their state. And Naruto slowed down drastically with the mist around him starting to freeze. He barely had any time or reflex to react, when suddenly one of the men appeared behind him, knocking him out with one hit. The second men appeared at the girls, doing the same to them.

A child just a few years older than themselfs appeared next to the woman, having shoulder length black hair, first looking at the other three kids before looking up to the woman. "Well done, Haku. As I said, with that is the debt of your master paid. You two are free to go now."

The child now known as Haku nodded at the words, while the men came back, the one carrying Naruto over his shoulder, the other carrying both girls under his arms. Haku was looking at all three of them, whispering. "I will remember your faces. Sayonara." before leaving the scene.

Konoha – on a random street

Ino wasn't in the mood to help her parents with the flower shop this morning. The events from the last evening were still nagging at her. She couldn't believe that her gossiping would cause her trouble, but that's exactly what happend.

She was bluntly talking about Hinata's feelings right in front of not just Hinata herself but also the target of her affection, Naruto. The worst? She simply reacted on a comment made by someone she just met.

The situation she left in a hurry was a serious one. She could feel the anger in the air inside the ramen stand. And most of it came from Hinata and was directed at the others for different reasons. She never thought that the shy girl she befriended two years ago would be able to enter such a state.

She was thinking about appologizing to her, but wasn't sure what to say. That's the reason why she was currently walking through the streets of Konoha, aiming for one special place. She knew her childhood friend would be there and she so needed to talk to him to get an advice. He wasn't easy to handle because of his lazyness, but he was smart and he could surely help her.

It didn't took her long to reach the place she was looking for, basicly just a small patch of grass slightly away from the center of the village with a tree standing in the middle. And below the tree could she see her childhood friend Shikamaru, laying on his back with his arms behind his head and watching the sky. Next to him sat the chubby brown haird boy from their class, Choji Akimichi and a childhood friend of her as well, eating some snacks.

"Hey, Shika, Choji!" she shouted, waving in their direction while closing the distance. Choji looked towards her and gave her a warm smile while Shikamaru didn't move, still focusing on the sky or more precisely the clouds. Relaxing while cloud watching, that was the best about life.

"Oh, hello Ino. It's rare for you to join us lately. Aren't you with the Hyuga girls today?" Choji asked innocently while continueing to munch on his snacks. He was a super kind hearted boy who always would step out of his way to help someone.

Ino looked at him and smiled slightly. She couldn't help it, but she liked Choji for his character. Getting out of her thoughts did she speak up. "Uhm, yeah, that's the point. I think I did something terrible and I wanted to ask Shika for some advice. You might be able to help as well, knowing your kindness. I really screwed up this time..." she said, looking at the ground.

"I always told you that you are troublesome, Ino..." Shikamaru said, still focused on the clouds and not moving at all.

"But you are saying that about everything, Shikamaru." Choji answered for her. "Well, sit down and tell us what happened, Ino. We will try to help as best we can." his warm smile never left his face and Ino thankfully sat down next to them.

"Well, to make the story short... I blurted out that Hinata is having feelings for Naruto... right in front of all three of them..." she quietly explained. "Hinata got super mad first at me, then at Naruto who apparently knew about these feelings for two years already and then at Hanabi, who told Naruto back then."

Shikamaru was listening to her and raising an eyebrow, still focused on the clouds. "So basicly is your problem that you gossiped about a topic everyone with eyes could see anyway? I don't see the problem there..." he yawned.

"No Shikamaru, you aren't understanding it. Even if everyone was aware of it did she do it in front of the affected persons and started a chain reaction with that, resulting in a mad Hinata. You need to listen more carefully to what is told." Choji explained to Shikamaru, basicly just repeating the same stuff Ino just said.

"Troublesome..." Shikamaru mumbled before finally lifting his body slightly, rolling over on his side. "Why don't you just go and appologize to her? I thought you are friends, so she should forgive you."

"That's the point... I don't know how to appologize in this situation. That's why I searched for you in the first place to get some advices." she admitted, looking at Shikamaru.

"You could get her something to eat and everything will be fine." Choji suggested, thinking about the way people should appologize to him.

"I don't think that will work with Hinata." Shikamaru stated while thinking about the matter. "But why not get her something she likes? Something small, I don't know. A stuffed animal or something? Whatever you girls like."

Ino thought about it and shook her head. "I don't think that she is into these things... but getting her something small, that might work." Ino laid down next to her friends and closed her eyes, thinking about the matter.

Shikamaru figured that Ino wouldn't bother him anymore right now and laid back down as well, going back to cloud watching while Choji just smiled, never having stopped eating his snacks. It was a mystery where he always got them or more precisely stored them while being outside, but it seemed like his supplies were unlimited.

Ino was thinking about the last two years she knew Hinata, trying to figure out what she might like as an appology. She wasn't sure how long she would need to come up with something, but it might be good if some time passed in which Hinata could calm down, if she was still upset that is. And later she would search for her. That was the plan now.

What Ino didn't knew was that she wouldn't be able to find Hinata or any of her other friends once she would look for them...

Konoha – Inuzuka Compound

Kiba was standing in the yard of the compound, covered in dirt and panting hard, bleeding from several wounds across his body. He couldn't help but think about his defeat against this little Hyuga girl on the first day of Academy. He weren't able to hit her and she toyed with him. No, she wasn't attacking at all, she just dodged his attacks. That annoyed him the most.

That's why he spent every single day after Academy training hard, trying to improve his skills. She could dodge, so he had to improve his speed even more. She avoided his punches, so he had to work on his aim. She was able to hit him while using his Kazuga, he totally needed to perfect this technique. He knew he hadn't mastered it yet, but that it would fail against a little girl...

However, right now did he need to survive. "Is this all you got, pup? I should be ashamed having you as son. You aren't even able to counter my weakest attacks, so it's no wonder that you lost against the little Hyuga." a feral looking woman with wild black hair and red markings on her face teased him, starting another rush attack against Kiba, hitting him right in his stomach.

Kiba coughed up blood and spit it out to the ground, before looking at the woman. "I already told you Mom, she fought dirty. In a fair fight would I've won without any problems!" he exclaimed, getting a fist into his face.

"Less talking, more training." Kiba's mother scolded him. "Besides, you rarely get a choice for your opponent, so you need to learn to deal with any kind, no matter how fair or unfair they may fight or which abilities they have." she aimed her fist at his stomach again, but Kiba managed to dodge this one. "Plus, from what I heard, did you fought without your partner. A foolish decision by a foolish boy."

Kiba frowned at that comment, looking at his mother. "I thought she would be weak and I don't wanted for Akamaru to exhaust him because of her." he stated as a matter of fact, believing that his mother would be happy with that reply.

He never saw her moving and suddenly felt her claw like fingersnails at his throat, swallowing hard. "And that, pup, is what will get you killed out there. Never underestimate any opponent." she whispered into his ear, before throwing her son to the ground.

Kiba grunting by the impact, but got up to his feet again, looking angry at his mother. "Okay, I got it. In understand. Fine!" he growled. "And that's why I'm training to become stronger. I don't want that to happen ever again. And I want to get revenge on her for toying with me. I won't forgive you, Hanabi Hyuga!" he shouted the last part, hoping that Hanabi might hear him, whereever she might be in the village.

His mother grinned at that statement. At least had her son some guts and the motivation. "Now that's the spirit pup. You ready for more?" she got down on all four, still grinning at her son and ready to fight serious now to push him, when another voice distracted her.

"Mom? Are you out here? You are needed!" a girl shouted, walking around the yard looking for her mother. That distracted her long enough for Kiba to charge at her and ramming his knee into her face.

"You teached me yourself to never loose focus during a fight." he grinned at his mother who wiped the blood away that was running down at the side of her mouth. His grin however vanished when he got yet another fist into his stomach. He let his guard down this time.

"Okay pup, play time is over. Train for yourself today or ask your sister if she has time for it." she said to Kiba grinning, before turning in the direction the voice could be heard from before. "Yes Hana, I'm over here. What is it?" she shouted.

Hana Inuzuka approached the fighting area seeing both her mother and brother there, one in a slightly better condition than the other. She was a girl of around 15 years and had brown hair with two strands framing her face. Right behind her was an ANBU following, wearing a familiar looking cat mask.

"Hokage-sama sent a messenger for you. Well, now that this is done I do have to care for my dogs." she turned to walk away but was stopped by her mother.

"Stay right there, pup. I need to talk to you." Hana sighed seeing the glint in her mothers eyes but stayed nonetheless. "Well, isn't it ironic that you got sent here again, Cat-chan?" she grinned at the ANBU.

Cat was used to these comments from the Inuzuka for a long time now. Maybe the Hokage thought it to be funny sending Cat to deal with the Inuzuka clan, known for their feral traits and the work with their ninja dog partners. "I don't see why this might be ironic." she said stoically. "Anyway, Hokage-sama is requesting your presence in an important matter. Please hurry to his office as soon as possible, Tsume Inuzuka."

Tsume was still grinning. She would never get tired of teasing Cat, even so she wasn't reacting anymore. But that's nature at all, for a dog to tease a cat. "Alright, got it. I need to talk to my pups for a minute and then will I be on the way."

Cat nodded at that statement. "Alright. I will inform Hokage-sama. Farewell." Cat answered before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

Tsume wasn't able to get the grin from her face and turned to face her daughter, seeing that her son was now standing there as well. "Well, as you two heard, I was summoned by Hokage-sama. Hana, please be a good girl and treat your brothers wounds."

Hana frowned at that. "But Mom, I need to take care of my dogs. I don't have time for my stupid brother and his feelings of revenge." she normally had nothing against her younger brother, but his behavior during the last week was just annoying to her. And that just because he lost to a girl younger than himself.

Kiba glared at her angrily. "As if you were able to touch any living being in a gentle way. I really don't get why they let you become a vetenarian." he got another fist in his face, this time property by his sister.

Tsume was laughing at that scene. "Just do it, pup. And once you are done let your triplets play with him. He wants training, your dogs could get some exercise and you would be able to just watch while your brother is caring for them." her grin got some kind of sadistic touch to it and both her kids just nodded at that.

"See, now that's some good little pups I got there. Anyway, gotta go. Don't make trouble you two!" she waved to them over her shoulder while leaving the yard, not paying any more attention to her children.

Hana was looking angrily at her brother and Kiba gulped seeing his sister's expression. He was in for a long day of pain, he knew it. But right now would he accept everything to become stronger to get revenge on Hanabi...

Konoha – a park in the center

It was a sunny day inside the village and there were no traces of the mist that surrounded it. Kakashi having a free day did what he liked to do the most, hanging out and reading his books. He was currently leaning against a tree and deep in his book, not paying attention to his surroundings.

He liked these kind of days. Even so he was an elite ninja said to have mastered a thousand jutsu did he prefer peaceful days over days of fighting. Or missions. Or responsibilities. Or work. Actually, he was a lazy nature.

So a free day just like this was something he appreciated much. Good weather, a nice shadowy place inside one of the parks and a good book, nothing could go wrong. "Hey, spooky white hair guy!" and that's the point he was mistaken.

He sighed hearing this new nickname and put his book back in his bag, looking in the direction the voice came from. "You know that I don't like this name. Can't you stick with Cyclops like you always did, Cat? I don't want this new one to spread around the other shinobi or the whole village." he asked, watching her get close to him.

"While I do admit that keeping up with the old ways is important do I think that sometimes a new impulse can be refreshing. And the little Hyuga certainly got this refreshing impulse with your new name." she smiled under her mask, not that someone could see that. "Speaking of them, did you hear anything from the kids so far?"

"Hmm? No, I haven't. So I guess everything is fine with them." he shrugged. "But could you explain to me again why I'm the one who has to keep an eye on them? Or more precisely an ear in this case?"

"Again? But I just told you yesterday..." Cat frowned. Kakashi was a good guy, but hard to handle. "Okay, again. First because you are free today. Second you already got in contact with these kids and they kinda acknowledge you and third? Because you took an intrest in them as well, so it's just natural that you should have an eye on these troublemaker."

Kakashi nodded slightly. He knew these reasons, but still... "Anyway, hadn't you said you would be running errands for Hokage-sama today? But it seems like you aren't that busy at all. So why aren't you looking after them?" he gave her a big smile with his one eye closed.

Cat chuckled at that. "I am busy right now. My current order is to distract you that Hokage-sama can confiscate all your beloved books. He said that would help you being less lazy."

"Nice try, but I know that this isn't the case. Want to try again?" he still smiled at Cat, knowing that this kind of order would never be given by the current Hokage.

"Fine... I am playing messenger and collector again. Currently am I collecting the reports of the gate guards around the village. Seems like nothing strange happened so far, as usual. Want to have a look?" she asked, pulling out some papers and handing them to Kakashi.

He took them and gave them a quick glance, scanning for anything out of the ordinary. "Hmm, you are right. But... two things do catch my attention." he stated after going through the reports.

"Really? I haven't seen anything special at all." Cat said, getting a bit closer to Kakashi to take a look on the reports as well.

"Yeah. First of all do all gates report a heavy mist outside. This for itself isn't strange, but have you realized that the whole inside of the village is totally sunny and there aren't any signs of mist at all?"

Cat thought about it for some while before answering. "But with the forests surrounding the village and our high wall is it possible, that the mist isn't entering here, right?"

"Good answer." Kakashi smiled at her. "It's the second thing that really concerns me though. Have you read what the guards report for leaving people so far?" he asked her again, waiting patiently for her answer.

"Hmm, yeah, I did. None of the gates have reported anyone leaving or entering." Cat answered, looking at him curiously, not that he could see that. "What about it?"

"That's the point. If the kids went into the forest should one guardpost have seen them, right? But since there isn't any contact reported..." he left his sentence open at the end for Cat to pick up.

"...did they most likely decide to not go at all today and are still somewhere inside the village." and she finished for him, getting a nod from Kakashi.

"It seems that way, yes. That means I don't need to watch them anymore at all. Or wait for a contact or whatever." he pulled his book back out of his bag. "So if you'll excuse me, I have things to do." he gave her one last smile before getting back to his book.

'I can't believe they changed their minds... they seemed determined to me last evening. And I haven't seen or heard them inside the village today. I wonder where they are...' Cat thought to herself before continuing with her errands. If she would knew how accurate her concerns were...

Somewhere in the Eastern Forest

A lone figure was walking through the forest, dressed in a grey trenchcoat and with sunglasses on, despite the fact that it was totally foggy. It was Shino Aburame and he used the thick mist to search for some rare beetles and bugs, who would only come out at these kind of conditions.

He, like his whole family, was intrested in insects and took every chance he got to search for them. And this rare condition was a one of a kind chance for him to find some real rare specimen. After all was the mist surrounding the village normally never that thick.

So far did he not have any luck, but he felt like he was close to finding a rare one. His instinct told him that. That plus the fact that he was able to hear and differ the little sounds the insects made. It wasn't like telling birds apart by listening to their voices, it was more like the sounds the insects make while moving and these kind of things.

Though there was one thing he could tell for certain. He was already some distance away from the village cause he couldn't sense or hear the insects living near the walls anymore. But he wasn't worried about getting lost in this mist, he was able to find his way back by following the insects.

He was out there for some hours by now, but he wasn't lucky at all today. Despite the weather being perfect for some of the rare ones did he find none so far and he was thinking about heading back to the village, when he reached a clearing in the forest. The mist was slightly less thick here and he could see the outlines of a ruin.

One thing bothered him. The insects around here seemed to be restless, like something disturbed them recently. Taking a closer look at the clearing and his close surroundings did he realize that the ground was recently used. The soil was partially marked by a footprint here and there and at other places shattered around, like something moved it from underground to the outside.

He came up with two possiblities about what happened here. The first but unlikely one was that someone tried to plant something here or was searching for something. The second, most likely one was that some kind of fight took place at this location. This would explain the movements of the insects and the issues with the ground. Some Earth Style jutsu he guessed.

He knew that he should head back to the village to report his findings but decided on staying a little longer to search for additional clues. He was sure that none other than himself was around because the insects in the forest weren't reacting to any other person right now, so he should have enough time.

Walking over to the area on which the ground seemed to be the most effected by whatever happened here did he crouch down to examine it carefully. All together did he count 7 different footprints while 3 or 4 of them seemed to be from children. He couldn't say what exactly happened but he guessed that some adults might have kidnapped some children here. That was the most logical thing.

When he decided to go back and report it did something out of the ordinary catch his eye. It was just a flash in the corner of it, but he thought that he saw something, so he went in that direction, carefully searching the ground. It took him around 5 minutes to find what he was looking for and picked it up.

"Hmm, this does look like a radio earpiece. Seems to be broken. From what I can tell is it used by Konoha shinobi, standard fabric. What is it doing out here? I should hurry back and report this." he spoke to himself before heading into the thick mist in the direction of the village. The insects guided his way.

Somewhere unknown

Hanabi was having a nightmare. She was running through a forest with no end, with a huge wave of fire following her. All she could do is running, trying to get away from the fire as quick and far as she could. There were however two things making this difficult for here. The one was the fact that as closer the fire came to her the more pain did she feel in her right arm, precisely in the area she got her scar. She was already holding it tight with her left hand, digging her fingernails into it.

The second problem was another big one. As farther she ran as colder became the air around her, slowing her down bit by bit. With that did the flame get closer and closer, the pain in her arm stronger which slowed her down even more. It was a situation she couldn't escape.

Once the flame reached her did the pain explode, consuming her whole body, burning her alive. She screamed in agony, still trying to escape the flame, the pain, her fate. She could somehow see herself being consumed, turned into nothing but ash, and she never stopped screaming for the pain she felt.

That was the moment she woke up, her whole body covered in sweat and still screaming. It took her a while to realize that she was still alive, that she wasn't feeling any pain from being burned alive, that she must have had a nightmare.

The next thing she realized was that she was unable to move her body. She tried moving her arms and legs but it was to no use. She felt herself in a kneeling position and her legs were tied in it, making it impossible to move them. When she tried her hands again did she realize that they were behind her back, tied together and also attached to something behind her.

Even her head movement was restricted. She felt something around her neck that seemed to be tied to the same object behind her like her hands were. She finally opened her eyes slowly, seeing both her sister and Naruto in similiar positions tied to a post each. So she assumed her hands and neck were tied to one as well.

She could also see the worry for her well-being in the eyes of the others, who tried talking to her since the moment she screamed, but she hadn't realized or heard them at all.

They seemed to be okay to her, seeing no visible wounds on the outside. Beside of the situation they were in were they at least not hurt. On closer ispection did she see that both got rope tied around the neck, keeping the head from movements and inflicting pain and cutting the flow of air if they tried, so she guessed it was the same for her.

She blinked her eyes a few more times to get away from her diziness. When her mind was finally fully back did she try to talk to her friends, but got interrupted by a person entering the room they were in. It was a slim figure, dressed in a complete body suit, only leaving the eyes visible. Her mind worked fast and she knew that she saw this kind of suit already. The shinobi from a week ago were wearing similiar ones.

"Well, well, seems like the little one has finally decided to wake up as well. And then with such loud noise... so disappointing..." the figure said, the voice being the same female one they heard on the clearing at the ruins. "If you promise to stay silent from now on won't I gag you. If not, well, for the sake of all people here do I need to shut you up. So?" she looked down at Hanabi who glared at her, before slowly and carefully nodding, trying to not choke herself.

"Now that's a good girl. I would like to tell you what will happen now, but... sadly I'm unable to do so. You see, we can't decide anything without gathering additional information before. But from what I can tell was it well worth it to set up the trap. Two cute little girls walked right into it, that's delicious." she pulled down the cloth covering her mouth and licked her lips provocantly, smiling at all three of them who showed different emotions from fear to rage.

"Oh, seriously? Don't you know that it's dangerous to walk into a thick mist all by yourself? You can get lost real quick in it. Be thankful that we found you out there." she chuckled to herself, angering the kids even more, but they somehow managed to not voice their opinion. If they would talk back now would they most likely be gagged and not get the opportunity to talk to the others later.

When the female was starting to add more annoying stuff to her speech did she got interrupted by another figure that entered the room. It was a slender, tall man, wearing a similiar full body suit.

"Ah, I see you are back. Did you got the information we need?" the female asked the newcomer, who nodded at her question.

"Yes, I did." he answered, the voice a high male one, the same that could be heard in the mist. "The boy is, depending on how you want to put it, either the joker or a zero."

The female sighed at that. "You and your cryptic speech. Joker or zero, huh? So an orphan who nobody will miss and who nobody would pay a ransom for, right?"

The male nodded. "That's what I was saying, yes. I would advice getting rid of him as fast as possible. The next auction is in two days. We might be able to advertise him for physical labor. I hadn't had the impression that he would knew how to fight or that he had any talents at all..." he stated his observations and informations.

"What? Take that back!" Naruto shouted, unable to control his emotions by these words. Though he regreted them right away, when the female walked over to him, knocking him out again and tying a thick piece of clothing over his mouth, gagging him that way.

The male however didn't reacted to this whole situation and simply continued. "The girls on the other hand are some intresting ones. They are either like queen and jack or like ace and five. It seems like we have some options with them." he had a small smile on his face, which was rare. Not that anyone could see it with his full body suit.

The female was raising an eyebrow at that. "Wait, like queen and jack?" she looked at the girls. "Really? Like misstress and servant?" she saw both girls blush slightly at that. "At least one is talented and the other not so, I get that. Ace and five... sometimes your cryptics are annoying. But we have options with them? You got my full attention here." the female replied, waiting for her comrade to continue.

"Well, we could simply get rid of them. That might be the easiest, considering the auction is near. However, these girls seem to be the daughters of one of Konoha's clan heads, meaning they are both heiresses. We might be able to get a huge ransom for them, but that would put us in a risky situation. If they decide to act against us will we most likely loose."

The female listened carefully, thinking about her options. "Anything else?" she asked, feeling that her comrade wasn't done yet.

"Two more options, actually. One would be delivering them to Kumo. As it seems..." he pulled out a bingo book and opened it on a certain page. "...is there a running bounty placed by Kumo for living members from this clan from Konoha. The amount is quite high, but the risk of the transportation should be considered. It's some distance to Kumo."

"Okay, that is a nice option. And the last?" the female asked, knowing her comrade however did she has a guess of what he would say next.

"We could simply keep them for our own purposes. The little one shall be gifted with talents and the other one shall be shy and submissive. It wouldn't take us too long to get them useable for us. Besides..." he took a short break, mustering the two girls who both paled hearing all the things that might happen to them. "...from what I understand are these three responsible for the failed operation last week."

"Say that again?" the female raised an eyebrow. "You mean three children were able to beat our recovery team?"

"Yes and no. It seems like they somehow got in the way, found the object our team was looking for and started an escape with it. They shall have spotted our team and ran away. And they somehow managed to call for backup while being chased by our team which appeared just in time to rescue these kids and kill our team."

"I... see..." the female was breathing deeply, trying to keep calm. "I need some time to think about these options. You prepare the marks. No need to gag the girls, let them talk if they want, I don't mind." she was leaving the room without waiting for any response, knowing that the male will do what she ordered.

The male sat down at a small desk and started working on something, while the girls were watching him with fearful eyes. Both had similiar thoughts, knowing quite well what was talked about just now. After all had they stolen some books about slavery and were more or less familiar with this topic.

Once the male was finished with his work did he walk from post to post, placing a well crafted leather collar on the neck of each kid. And they quickly found out what he was working on just a moment ago. He engraved their respective names on the small name tags. No family names, just their first names.

When the male was done did both of them stayed silent, their heads running wild with all kind of thoughts. However, there was one thought crossing Hanabi's mind that would have worried her at every other time, but which she didn't realize right now in this situation cause the thought was replaced by another one right away.

'Sorry sis, I wanted to be the one giving you your first collar and placing it around your neck.' - this thought was only present for a split second and went without being noticed. But it was there, nonetheless.


	9. Chapter 8 - Fate

_**Edit Note, 28th of August 2016** :_ Went through it for the formating. Sorry if you were one of the persons who read it prior to it. Hope there aren't any typos...

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 _ **Author Note**_ : Am I doing something wrong that I don't deserve your feedback? Just curious. Well, the ones I get are answered via PMs if you are wondering. I do react and got valueable info for myself by them ;-)

So, my real first fight is in this chapter. Hope it turned out decent enough. Guess I was crazy enough to write this specific one, inventing an OC including fighting style. Opinions?

And another cliffhanger at the end. Sorry for that - but the next chapter is already in the making. Just one week for it to appear. Btw, the next one will be Hinata's 10th birthday because my birthday is close as well. Thought that would be a fine treat for you ;-)

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 **A Tale of Two Sisters – Chapter 8: Fate**

Shino was in a hurry getting back to the village. He knew that he should report his findings as quick as possible because if his conclusion was the right one was time a crucial thing right now. If there really was a kidnapping wasn't there any to waste.

When he finally reached the village and entered through the eastern gate did he run right into Cat who currently was patrolling the eastern section of town. "Hold it right there. Where the hell are you coming from?" she stood in his way, mustering him from top to bottom.

Shino was raising an eyebrow at the ANBU standing in front of him. "Obvious from the eastern forest cause I just entered through the gate what you might have noticed." he bluntly stated the facts. "And if you don't mind I need to report something important as quickly as possible to the Hokage."

Cat was struggling to find words, her mind running wild right now. "How? How can you come from the forest if the guards report said that none left the village this morning?" she spoke out the first question that came to her mind, bothering her the most right now.

"I can't answer you that question. What I can answer you is that I was bug hunting and then found something I need to report. Oh, and maybe is the answer you are looking for that there were no guards around when I left?" he stated again bluntly, trying to push himself past the ANBU. No matter her rank, he had no time to waste and her questions sounded confuse to him.

She quickly snapped back to reality, turning around and grabbing Shino's shoulder, declining him to just walk away. "What do you mean, there were no guards? You know, explain that later. If you are in a hurry..." she didn't finish her sentence and disappeared into a swirl of leafs, taking him with her.

They appeared right in front of the Hokage office and Cat knocked on the door, getting a "Come in." from the inside. So she enered the office, still holding Shino at his shoulder and dragging him forward into the office.

The Hokage lifted his head from the paperwork he was doing and looked to the door, where one of his best operatives just entered together with an Academy student. Raising an eyebrow did he speak. "Cat, what is the meaning of this? Why are you bringing this student here?" he asked, mainly curious.

Before Cat could answer however did Shino decide to speak up. "Hokage-sama, my name is Shino Aburame. I was bug hunting this morning in the eastern forest and stumbled upon a clearing holding ruins, on which a fight must have happened, from what I could tell."

That got him the attention of both adults present. "A fight in the eastern forest?" the Hokage asked. "I think I know which ruins you are referring to and it would be worrysome if there really was a fight. What brought you to this conclusion?"

"Simple. First of all were the insects in the area kinda disturbed. That was most likely a result of intense chakra use. Second was the ground disturbed. I guess because of the use of Earth Style jutsus. And third because I found this laying on the ground." he moved forward to place the broken earpiece on the table. Both the Hokage and Cat took a look and could tell that this was standard equipment for Konoha ninja.

Cat was inhaling sharply below her mask, before speaking. "Wait, ruins in the eastern forest? The kids, I mean the Hyuga sisters and the Uzumaki, were planing on heading there. And they had an earpiece with them to get in contact, if something might happen there..." her voice trailed off, her thoughts racing through her mind.

The expression of the Hokage became a serious one, his voice firm and strong. "Cat, who is the person with the counterpart to this earpiece? Since you know about this situation can you surely tell me that?"

Cat nodded. "Kakashi has the counterpart, Hokage-sama. I was talking to him an hour ago and he said there wasn't any try of contact so far. But if this earpiece is broken am I not surprised why. Though the kids should have another two of them, as far as I'm informed. Seems like they only had this one with them this time."

"I see. Now this is a serious situation we have here. If someone unknown kidnapped both Hyuga heiresses and the young Uzumaki might we be in trouble. And I'm not just talking about the wrath of Hiashi..." she slowly shook his head, not wanting to think about what could happen. "Cat, go and inform Kakashi of these events and order him to inspect the ruins in the eastern forest imediately. His free day is canceled."

"Yes Hokage-sama." she answered before disappearing in a swirl of leafs, leaving the Hokage and Shino in the office.

"Shino, I'm thankful for the informations you brought us. If it weren't for you, who knows how much time would have passed til we might have learned of this. Though, you aren't allowed to talk to anybody about this right now, understood? This is an important matter and we don't want anyone to act too quickly on the situation." the Hokage lectured the young student.

"Of course, Hokage-sama. I fully understand the situation and wasn't planing on telling anyone. But if I might suggest adding one of my clan to the search team? We might be able to help with the search using our insects." Shino stated, being analytical and direct as always.

"Thanks for the offer, but this won't be necessary. Kakashi is one of our best trackers and I'm sure he will be able to find them. I would have sent Tsume Inuzuka with him, but she left for another mission this morning. Anyway, I'm sure we will find your classmates." the Hokage gave a reassuring smile to the young Shino who nodded at his words.

"I understand. If you'll excuse me." he said, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

The Hokage lent back in his chair, pulling out his pipe. After staring at it for a while did he light it up, inhaling with it deeply before exhaling the smoke. "And again are there problems involving these three. I really want just one day of peace in my old age..." he sighed, before going back to his paperwork.

Eastern Gate of Konoha

'I can't believe that. It's like they are a magnet for problems. I wonder if it is just Naruto and the girls are just pulled into the problems, or if they are part of that problem magnet as well. And sadly it's still three years til they are out of the Academy. Lot of time for more problems and way too much time til they are able to defend themselfs... Why must I be the one to look after them at all?' he thought to himself, going through the informations again that Cat gave him just minutes ago.

He sighed at his thoughts and decided that he might complain about it at a later time. For now was he needed to find and rescue the three kids. It was unknown who might have got their hands on them and even so they were young and didn't knew any secrets about the village were their bodies full of information other villages would kill for. Starting with the Kekkei Genkai of the girls.

Once he left the village through the eastern gate did he jump into the trees and moved quickly toward the clearing the ruins were located. He had a good idea where exactly they are located, having heard stories about it from his father when he was little. Though he never really understood why this outpost was abadoned. It was at a perfect distance to the village to be a first line of defense against any attacks and to give a warning if this might really happen.

Luckily was the mist slowly fading, increasing the sight and making maneauvering between the trees easier, especially at the speed Kakashi was using. It didn't took him too long to finally reach the clearing and he landed in the middle of it, getting a good look around it. The informations he got seemed to be correct. There were indeed signs of a fight, the most prominent one the moved earth.

'Hmm, based on the shape of the surroundings would I say they used an Earth Style: Earthern Wall to trap the kids. A wall in three directions, only leaving an opening in the direction of their attackers. These footprints are most likely from the kids. Two hadn't really moved, most likely giving up to the situation and sitting on the ground. The sisters I guess. And one pair is leading in the direction of the opening, must have been the hyperactive Naruto.' he firstly analyzed the area that seemed to be the place the kids were as last, before heading over to the place the attackers might have appeared.

'Okay, let's see what we got here. Three pair of footprints, adult size. One of them must have been the Earth Style user. There is a fourth print leading to them. Probably someone watching the surrounding or providing any kind of backup. Once they trapped the kids did they move quickly, most likely knocking them out and carrying them away. Some of these prints are deeper, added weight I guess.' his mind was racing, trying to figure out exactly what happened.

He looked in the direction the footprints lead away from the clearing, thinking about his next action. If they were just some bandits would it be simple to find them. Though they had at least one ninja with them, so it might be more than just some bandits. A group of missing nins probably? He shook his head at that thought. Would be too random for them to be here the moment the kids were as well.

Also the way they operated, the precision of this trap, was way to accurate. No, they must have planned that somehow. But were they aiming for these three kids directly or were they just the unlucky victims to walk into that trap? To figure these things out does he have to find the kidnappers first.

Right now was all he could do follow the trail that left the clearing. Whoever might have got his hands on the kids, he hoped that nothing would happen to them and that he would find them in time...

Somewhere unknown

Naruto was still unconscious and both sisters sat there in silence, not daring to speak any word. While the female had left the room did the male stay behind to keep an eye on the merchandise. He sat down at the table again and made himself comfortable. Part of it was removing the hood that was covering his whole head except for his eyes.

He had super short but styled darkblonde hair and a pretty handsome face with not a single scar on it. He was around 30 years old and either was he a super good fighter for not being scarred or he rarely saw a battle in this organization he might be part of.

To skip time during his watch had he pulled out a deck of cards from his sleeve and started to play a game with himself, that basicly seemed to make no sense at all. All he did was shuffling the cards, drawing one card after another to place them atop each other again and sometimes discarding his pile to start again. It didn't made any sense to the girls watching.

After a while did he sigh and turned to the girls, starting to speak. "You know, you have heard her, haven't you? You are free to communicate with each other, so don't worry and just go ahead. I won't be interrupting you, I won't be hitting you for talking and I won't be talking about the things you might speak about. I'm just here to have an eye on you. Besides..." he got a small evil smile on his face. "Depending on how she decides might this be the last time for you two to see and talk to each other at all."

Both girls were still looking at him in silence and he slowly shook his head. When he wanted to get back to his cards did Hanabi finally speak up, who more or less had herself kinda back under control after she panicked during the assault. "So you plan on selling us as slaves, aren't you?" she asked, getting the attention of the man.

"Well, seems like the little one does have some knowledge despite her young age. But that isn't decided yet, as I just told you. It depends on her decision. But what gave us away?" he asked mockingly. "Maybe that we just talked about it in front of you just moments ago?" he couldn't help but to smile while Hanabi frowned.

"More the collars with nametags and that you addressed us as merchandise..." she said quietly, looking down to the ground. "But why?" she asked, not really believing that she would get an answer on that question.

"That's simple. Because we catched you and that's one of the bigger incomes our organization has. It's nothing personal, really." he smiled honestly at them, which annoyed both girls. How could he talk about it like that in front of them?

"Can we at least get something to eat?" she asked, looking at the man again. "We hadn't had anything since breakfast..."

"Hmm, I guess that won't be a problem at all. Are you just talking for yourself or do you want something to eat for your slave as well?" he grinned, seeing the angry look on Hanabi's face and the crimson red Hinata looking down to the ground. "Hehe, nice reactions. Seems like these rumours aren't as far fetched than they seem to be. While I would really like to hear that story do I guess you won't tell me, huh? Anyway, for the food you asked for..."

Grabbing his deck of playing cards did he pull out the ace of hearts without even watching and placed it on the desk. Then he went through some handsigns with high speed before quietly speaking. "Card Tricks: Ace of Hearts." and in an instant did a basket full of fruits appear on the table. He couldn't help but grin at the girls watching him.

"Some of my own emergency proviant. Just a small part though, so feel free to eat them to your hearts delight... is what I would say if you weren't tied to the posts." he chuckled at the angry looks both girls gave him. "Alright, guess that wasn't fair. See, I'm not a bad person at all, you know? Anyway..." he took two apples from the basket and cutted them into small pieces, before walking over to the girls and sitting down between them.

Hanabi was totally annoyed by that man and was glaring at him while Hinata lowered her head back toward the ground. Both of them felt uncomfortable in the situation they were in right now. The man brought a piece of apple close to Hanabi's mouth and sighed when she turned her head away, even choking herself slightly in the process.

"Okay girls, now listen. They aren't poisoned and if you want something to eat do you need to allow me to feed you. If not, fine. But don't expect the others to offer you food that easily. Your decision." he said, disappointment clearly in his voice.

Hinata still hadn't moved at all, her head still hung. Hanabi glared at the man again before sighing herself, opening her mouth. The man smiled and fed her a piece of apple which she gladly ate. Hearing that her sister allowed him to feed her brought Hinata also back to reality and she too opened her mouth to be fed by him.

"Really, I want to know that story. She's so submissive, waiting for her misstress to make the decision of being fed by me and then accepting it to be fed as well without reacting to me before. She must be a perfect slave at heart to be that well behaved." he bluntly said without caring much for the feelings of the girls at all.

Sure, he knew that during this age kids were totally unsure of their own life and character and this situation these two sisters had was unheard of to him. But being in this business for a long time made these things so normal to him that he had no problem speaking bluntly about it.

The girls minds however were running wild right now, trying to process all the informations they were recieving currently. It was one thing reading about slavery in books, but it was a totally other thing getting informations from someone with first hand experiences who could easily judge someone's character by their actions. They couldn't change anything on their current situation anyway, so they might as well get for them important informations – if they might come out of this situation and use them afterwards that is.

'Am I... really a slave at heart? I know that I accepted Hanabi and my role, but... is this really natural for me? Maybe he's right... I am fine with this situation for some time now and Hanabi is treating me well. I even changed a lot, being more confident and open now. Even made new friends by myself. Guess I don't mind being her slave. I just hope that we get out of here and that I can tell her that much...' Hinata thought while being fed by the man. His words cemented her feelings, her decisions, her thoughts.

Hanabi's thoughts went into another direction. 'I already knew that she is kinda enjoying it. I felt that for a while now. And it totally helped her out of her shell. Guess she could live on her own now, but she is clinging to me. Sis... I can't let you go. For your sake... and for mine. I... I need you. No... I want you. Yes, that is it. I got used to owning you and I'm enjoying it. You are mine, remember that well...' she was kinda thankful to the man currently feeding her for speaking out of his experience even so he just wanted to tease them. Hanabi realized important things to her by his words.

The man smiled to himself, seeing both girls deep in thought while he was feeding them. He really wondered what they were thinking about. He would ask them if she decided to keep them at all. But with the information he got about them, especially the sisters since the boy was a joker and his fate already decided by that, was he expecting her to decide to get rid of them, quick and easy. That meant the auction in two days.

"Thanks..." Hanabi was mumbling quietly, when the man was done feeding them who in return gave her another honest smile. It seemed to her that this man kinda got a liking to them as persons but at the same time had no problems seeing them as merchandise he could make a profit with. That truely was a strange fellow.

"No problem, little one. Though I guess I still won't get to hear the story, am I?" he grinned again by her angry glare. "Alright, got it. That's totally fine. Well, I'll focus on my cards again. Feel free to talk to your slave, little one. As said, might be the last time you get the chance."

"She's not... well, okay, she is, but... don't refer to my sis as my slave!" Hanabi became furious by the way this guy spoke down on her sister. "And stop calling me little one. I have a name, you kn-..." she stopped her sentence mid-word, realizing that of course he knew. He was the one engraving their names on the collar's nametags after all.

The man couldn't help but laugh. "We all have names. But... what are names anyway? Some don't like theirs, some get nicknames, never being called by their real ones, at some places are names never spoken. I once knew a girl. I think she had a nice name. But do you know how often that one was used? Never. She was always called Bitch and she shrugged it off, telling that the name was fine with her, because she was a real bitch after all."

The girls listened to his story that totally seemed out of place. If they weren't in their current situation they might even become friends with this guy. He was somewhat caring, kinda seemed like a nice guy and had fun stories to tell, as it seemed.

"That's... kinda sad." Hinata spoke up. "When she had a nice name should it had been used as well. That's the whole purpose of a name, to be used." she looked at the man and was really to start an argument with him. Hanabi watched that scene dumbstruck. Her shy sister, captured and tied up by this man, was starting a discussion. Now she knew that all her efforts really brought her out of her shell.

The man laughed again. "Well, you may be right with that, girl, but tell me one thing. I guess your sister there is the closest person for you, right?" Hinata slightly nodded at that question. "Okay, fine. So tell me now, when was the last time your sister has called you by your name?"

Hinata wasn't expecting this kind of question and had to think about it and even Hanabi tried to remember when she used her name the last time. "Uhm... I... don't know..." Hinata said quietly. "From what I can remember is she always calling me sis."

The man nodded. "See, I told you. And you aren't caring about her not using your name. So, yeah, we all may have a name, but what are they? Nothing important at all." he stretched his body, picking up his deck. "I wonder why she needs so much time to decide. That's not like her..." he spoke more to himself than anybody but the girls got a slight shiver down their spines.

Luckily Naruto was still out cold and didn't hear anything of this conversation. While the girls didn't thought about him that moment would it have been difficult to explain to him why Hinata was Hanabi's slave. If there might be a chance to explain anything at all in the future with their fate at stake here and unknown to them.

Eastern Forest

Kakashi was cursing. By now was he sure that the kidnapper weren't either bandits nor simple missing nins. He ran into way too many traps already while following their trail. They must have planned that at all. He guessed that the latest rumours about the ruins must have been spread by them as well, to lure someone out there to then capture the victims.

And if they planned to capture and kidnap someone that professional must they be some kind of slave traders or any kind of organization capable to pull such a move. He couldn't help but to think about the encounter he had when he rescued the kids the last time. Reports said that one of them was wearing a slave collar and that they had no identification of any kind.

He wondered if these two events somehow were related. If they were using slaves in their ranks and abducting children in order to raise them to be slaves in their ranks... his thoughts were stopped when he suddenly had to jump back, dodging a barrage of kunai flying his way. He triggered yet another trap he hadn't seen and he was annoyed by it.

"They are good, I give them that. Some of their traps were simple, but that's the third I haven't seen. And I'm known as one of the best trackers... spotting traps shouldn't be a problem for me. So much for my free day..." he sighed. He would totally have a talk with the Hokage about that.

"Oh, what do we have here? Another income waiting to be picked?" a deep male voice echoed through the forest. "Kakashi Hatake, son of the White Fang, known as the Copycat. No surprise that my traps weren't enough so far... But what a fine bounty. You know, I'm troubled now."

"Please forgive me for not being intrested in your problems. But since you were so kind to appear and talk to me, would you please tell me where you brought the kids that I can take them back?" he talked lazyly. He wasn't really intrested in fighting somewhere in the middle of the forest and maybe that guy was dumb enough to spill some informations. Or he was smart enough to delay his search that his friends might get away with the kids.

"To appear?" the voice laughed. "From what I can tell do you have no idea where I am. But you are right with one point. We recently got our hands on some kids, so I guess you are looking for them and for us. And that's the problem here. My orders are to delay the person following us, which is currently working by the way." Kakashi frowned at that. "But now did I have to find out that a bounty is following us and we always could need that money. But I know that I won't survive an encounter with you right here, right now, after you already triggered most of my traps."

"Well, thanks for the flowers, but as you already said, I don't really have time for that. Thanks for confirming my suspicions though. If you would just tell me your and the name of your organization that I can continue with my hunt?" Kakashi asked politely. Just because he was an enemy was there no reason to insult someone, right?

"Oh, sure, I will do so gladly. My name's Orochimaru from the Sannin and my teammates went ahead with the kids. Common, do you really think I'm that stupid?" the voice laughed again. "Anyway, I need to report to her who is following us, so if you'll excuse me? And to fulfill my orders... Earth Style: Maze!" the voice shouted, raising several huge walls of earth out of the forest ground, surrounding Kakashi and cutting him off from different ways, forming a small maze around him.

Kakashi hadn't really time to react, that jutsu was fast. He figured that a fight against that Earth Style user might be difficult, if his attack jutsu's had a similiar speed. „Fine... first I need to get out of here and then back on their trail. I just hope I'm not loosing too much time here..." he sighed, making him on the way to find a way out of the maze.

Somewhere unknown

The curses of a woman could be heard from far away and became more intense, hinting that the woman came closer. The man knew these curses quite well and he also knew that something wasn't working like planed. They were even loud enough to finally wake Naruto up as well, who was looking around slightly with his head still spinning, trying to understand the current situation after he got knocked out the last time.

The girls realized that he came back to his senses, but feared to say something in this situation. They don't wanted to risk anything with this furious woman approaching. Just seconds later got the door slammed open and the woman from before entered the room again. "C! I've decided. We need to get rid of all three of them as fast as possible. There is already someone on our trail. J was able to delay their movements but he said that wouldn't buy us much time. They sent the Copycat to search for this merchandise."

The man raised an eyebrow at the woman. "Okay, that was quick. I expected that we would have more time. Alright, I will prepare the carriage to leave for the auction as soon as possible. Though... if the Copycat is after them..." he pondered aloud, playing with some thoughts inside his head and deciding to try his luck. "I will need another set of jokers in case I have to engage combat with him."

He knew that he was pushing his luck. While his normally used tools for fighting were pretty cheap and simple to create was it something different with his ace. Under normal conditions would she have already punched him by now, ranting about the cost of it, but the conditions weren't normal right now. The Copycat, Kakashi Hatake, had a decent bounty on his head and was known everywhere. He was a formidable opponent.

"Fine, granted. You can pick them up in the arsenal before you leave. But remember, you are responsible for the merchandise to arrive safely and unharmed at the place of the auction. Failure isn't an option and will be punished. Also... do not use the merchandise as gambling bet again..." her eyes were ice cold and he knew the look she gave him. He simply nodded at her and she turned around and left the room, without saying anything more. She was deep in thought, thinking if they needed to abadon this base or not.

The man now known as C sighed, looking at the girls, realizing that the boy also was back with the living. "Well, you heard her. I would have loved to talk to you more and to hear the story..." Hanabi was giving him an evil glare that he ignored. "...but I do have orders now. We sadly have to get rid of you three, so..." he shrugged. "It's still nothing personal."

Naruto was trying to protest through the gag but couldn't, while the girls remained silent. They didn't knew who this Copycat might be, but it sounded liked these guys feared him, so there might be still a chance for them to be rescued. They simply hoped that they would make it out of this situation, that they could get back to the village and their life. That they could talk to each other again, both hoping to tell the other sister their thoughts and decisions.

It took C a good 30 minutes to get all three kids on a carriage and to tie them to the walls of it, leaving them in similiar positions than before. Once they were secured did he aim for the arsenal to pick up the additional set of jokers he requested. He checked over his complete supplies of weapons and ninja tools and was satified. He was well equiped with hidden tools all over his suit that he could draw and use no matter the situation he might be in.

But he hoped he wouldn't run into the Copycat at all. While he was a decent fighter was his fighting style based on varity and surprises that would bring most opponents out of their own concept. But the Copycat wasn't like most opponents. According to the bingo book was he capable of copying jutsu and said to know a good one thousand of them. So in regard of varity was he far ahead of C. He didn't fear that his jutsu's might be copied. They were one of a kind and without the proper tools not useable, but still, he wanted to avoid a fight.

Having done all of his preparations did he went back to the carriage, got atop of it and gave the horse the signal to start moving. His thoughts were troubled for the very first time. He got a liking to the girls and would have loved to keep them, but he had to get them to the auction as quick as possible. He surely understood the necessarity of it, but it was the first time he didn't liked to get rid of the merchandise.

Being inside his thoughts and with the kids struggling in the back of the carriage was he riding the carriage to their fate. But he wasn't getting rid of one nagging thought. No matter the outcome, his life wouldn't be the same as before. He was fearing the worst. Just like the kids did. Being sold as slaves was the last thing on the list of things they wanted to happen...

Eastern forest

Kakashi didn't need too long to get out of the maze. In fact didn't he even try to find the exit, he simply charged his Chidori and broke through a few walls with it til he was outside. While the Earth Style user was quick with his jutsu was the quality of it not the best. The walls were slightly crumbling from the beginning like he created them in a haste and didn't pay much attention to the outcome.

After just five minutes was he back on track of the ones who kidnapped the kids and he figured he must be close already or they hadn't tried to delay his advances. He was ready for anything that might come his way but was surprised that he hadn't seen any more traps along the way. Well, that only meant he was advancing faster now.

Another two hours later did he suddenly stop on a branch, listening into the forest. There was a sound out there that was not a normal one inside a forest. He carefully moved in the direction of this sound and remembered it some moments later. It was the sound of wooden wheels of a carriage driving on a dirtway. 'Might be a coincidance and just some travellers or merchants passing through, but I should check it out.' were his thoughts as he aimed for the source of the sound now.

C was driving his carriage through the forest, carefully checking the surroundings. He got informed that the Copycat was on their trail and he knew J quite good and that he tend to make mistakes when in a hurry. So whatever jutsu he used to delay the advances of the Copycat will most likely haven't done much to delay him at all.

The biggest problem he had was the fact that he had to drive a short distance back towards Konoha before he could take a turn to aim for the location of the auction. So if the Copycat was still on their trail, what he expected, would he close the distance to him before getting farther away.

He was hearing whispers from the back of his carriage. He knew that he should have gagged the girls to be safe, but he kinda liked them. That's why he offered them to stay ungagged that they could whisper with each other for maybe the last time in their lives. He also threated them with a harsh punishment if they were to make loud noises just to be safe.

What the girls didn't knew was that there were sound suppressing seals on the carriage itself that will cancel every sound trying to get out there. He was smiling to himself for that. Playing the nice guy for the girls and even giving them a choice even so it doesn't matter. But they obeyed him and that was the think counting for him. Maybe if he would buy the little one for himself...

He shook his head to get out of these thoughts, focusing back on the road and the surroundings. But he couldn't help the feeling that this drive would become hectic soon. 'Damn, the Copycat must be close. I'm feeling uneasy, that was never any good sign...' he thought, paying attention to some possible ambush spaces up ahead. He knew this road and good attack spots, so he wouldn't be hit by surprise at least.

In some distance was Kakashi sitting on top of a branch, observing the carriage driving on the road. He couldn't see inside it, but he guessed that the kids might be in it. The driver was wearing the same full body suit than the shinobi he fought when he rescued the kids the last time. So there was a connection between those two incidents. But he would think about that later. Now did he need to rescue some kids... again.

Thinking about a way to engage the carriage did he move further down the road, searching for a point he could ambush it. He could only see the driver, so if things went good would he only have to fight one opponent. However, he had no idea about the capabilities of this guy, while they knew who he was. That stupid bounty on his head made him and his abilities famous, everyone could read about him. It was annoying giving informations about yourself away while not knowing any about the enemy.

Hoping to get a sneak attack on the driver and to end the fight before it even started did he position himself behind a large rock located just after a narrow turn. The perfect spot for an ambush. Nobody would have time to react after taking the turn and being confronted with an attack. The plan was simple but good. He also thought about quickly placing a trap, maybe some explosives, but decided against it, not wanting to risk the health of the kids.

C was driving his carriage toward the narrow turn up ahead. So far he hadn't spotted anything at all, but his uneasy feeling got worse by every meter he passed. Stopping the horse pulling it some distance away from the turn did he decide to speak up. "I'm aware of your presence. Show yourself, Copycat. I won't be driving into an ambush I would have placed at the same location." his voice was calm.

Deciding that it was no use pretending he wasn't there did Kakashi step onto the road between carriage and turn, blocking it with his body. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the driver. "Well, since you know who I am without having seen me do I guess that you are indeed part of the people who kidnapped the kids. Hand them back to me and I will let you leave unharmed. I'm not that intrested in fighting right now."

Thinking over these words did C slowly shook his head. "I'm afraid I cannot do that. She won't forgive me if I fail and I'm not intrested in her punishments. But if you don't want to fight, how about we make a deal? Or... we could gamble over their fate. What do you say?" he was slightly grinning under his suit. She would totally kill him for betting the merchandise again. He never lost when the game was card related, but it was a rule to not play with the merchandise in any kind.

Kakashi shook his head slowly. "Sorry, but I don't think this will work out. Seems like we need to fight after all. So it would only be fair to know your name, since you already know mine." he gave him a smile. No reason to not be polite, right?

"Okay, last offer. You can purchase the merchandise for 10% over the expected profit. That way will you get what you want, we get our money and both of us can leave unharmed. How does that sound?" C asked, getting another shook of Kakashi's head. "Hmm, too bad. But I guess I can grant you your wish. I'm known as C. And no, it isn't short for Copycat." he chuckled at his own joke and Kakashi frowned.

"That really was weak, you know? Anyway, think we should start, shouldn't we?" Kakashi was still smiling and didn't move so far, waiting for the reply of his opponent. All he wanted was to enjoy his free day with a good book and now was he about to engage in combat with an unknown kidnapper. He hadn't any luck.

Inside the carriage were the three kids listening to the events outside. Or they tried at least. It was difficult to understand any word spoken for some reason and the voices were pretty quiet to them. All they knew was that the carriage stopped not too long after they started and they guessed they weren't at the target location yet. The girls however kept silent, not trying to shout or anything. But all three of them started to struggle in their binds, in order to maybe get free or to move the carriage to show they were inside.

"Well, I guess we should. How unfortunate..." C said. "In order to protect the merchandise do I have to engage combat with you." he stated calmly, ignoring the struggles of the three bound children inside.

"Don't underestimate me, though. I'm not as weak as the team you killed the last time." he put an unreadable expression on his face, letting playing cards slide into his hands out of his sleeves. "Secret Art: Card Tricks" he whispered before throwing ten playing cards, five with each hand, at Kakashi.

Right after his hands were free did he start making signs with an incredible fast speed, property of his years of experience as a card trickster and manipulator. When he finished his first set of signs did he shout out. "Fear the terror of gambling! Card Tricks: Number Multiply!" resulting in some of the thrown cards to glow, before creating copies of themselfs in the same amount of the number written on the card. Each of these was sharp as a kunai.

However, he didn't stop there, continueing with a second set of hand signs without taking a break, shouting his next attack. "Card Tricks: Picture Effects!" this time the rest of the cards started to glow, changing the surface of the picture cards into different kinds of poisons that would create different effects if hit by them. From paralysis to a deadly poison was everything covered.

He wasn't stopping yet, creating a third set of signs and shouting out. "Card Tricks: Symbol Elements!" which resulted in the cards glowing change into different colours. Cards with the heart symbol changed into red, being surrounded by a fire aura; cards with the club symbol changed into a yellow, becoming hard as stone; cards with the spades symbol glowed green, being enhanced by wind and becoming sharper than everything; cards with the diamond symbol glowed blue, being surrounded by a static aura capable of inflincting the same damage than a lightning strike.

All of this didn't take him longer then a single second and he grinned at his opponent, who hadn't moved yet at all. He was aware of the fact that his attacks were kinda randomly and luck based, depending on which cards he would draw from his decks. On the other side was he a real good card manipulator, able to always draw the cards he needed. Right now though did he go with a random set, throwing a bit of everything.

He had two goals with this wide variety of attacks. The one was to figure out what abilities the enemy in front of him had. The other was to demonstrate that he wouldn't go down easily, not even against a ninja as famous as the Copycat. Not that he would be worried or something. Nobody could copy his Card Tricks, and he knew that just well.

Plus he wanted to finish the battle quickly. He don't want to take the risk of the merchandise being damaged by this fight and he certainly don't want to be late for the auction. In both cases would he get a punishment he prefered to avoid.

Kakashi still hadn't moved, watching the thrown objects approaching him carefully. 'Did he... really threw playing cards at me? I mean, sure, with enough talent and creativity can a shinobi basicly turn everything into weapons or attacks, but playing cards? That's a new one.' he thought to himself, still not moving.

C was grinning when all of his cards hit the target. The sharp spade cards all flew right through the body, the hard club cards hit it extremely while the heart and diamond cards were creating burnmarks or signs of electricity where they hit. Not to mention that all picture cards hit, inflicting all kind of different poisons into the body. He couldn't help but laughing – because he just realized that he was tricked into attacking first and showing his abilities to his opponent.

The Kakashi clone disappeared into a small smoke cloud while the real one was stepping onto the street from between the trees. "I have to say, I'm impressed. I never saw anyone using playing cards as weapons. And then enhanced with four different elements, really, I'm impressed by your skills."

"Still wanna fight?" C asked rhetorically, not really expecting that the Copycat would leave him alone. "You know that you are risking their health if you engage me, right?"

"Well, yeah, I guess I'll take that risk. As long as they live can we patch them together, so..." Kakashi nodded and started doing a set of handsigns by himself now, being nearly as quick as C was. "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" he shouted, forming a giant dragon like creature with water out of a nearby pond that ascended into the sky and aimed at the carriage from above.

"I won't let you damage the merchandise, Copycat!" C shouted, going through handsigns as well before shouting. "Card Tricks: Club Wall!" which moved several dozen of club cards from different pockets and hiding places of his suit into the air, forming a wall of ironhard playing cards to block the incoming water dragon. The dragon crashed right into it, splattering in every direction without even scratching the cards surfaces.

"You can't win if you focus on defending yourself and the carriage." Kakashi said while already doing another set of signs, shouting. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" spitting a huge fireball in the direction of the carriage. C reacted quickly as well, moving his club card defense between Kakashi and himself, blocking the fire jutsu as well with it.

"And you would have killed the kids twice already if it weren't for me. Think about that, Copycat." C spat out venoumously, pulling out a single card from his sleeve. "If it weren't for the punishment I'll receive if I loose or damage the merchandise or the fact that I kinda like the little one, would I have simply dodged your attacks and you could explain why you killed the kids you want to rescue."

The kids could clearly hear the sounds of fighting outside, fearing for their lifes, unable to move or do something. They heard the splatter of water atop the carriage and could feel the heat from outside. Naruto was simply struggling in his bonds, trying to get free, not able to say anything with his gag. Hinata was talking to her sister, trying to get her focus on her, because she saw the state Hanabi was in when the fighting started.

Hanabi's eyes were blank and unfocused, her whole body limb. The trauma that appeared at the ruins and was based on the events from the week before took it's toll again, rendering her unable to move or do anything. Her mind panicked and shut down and not even her sisters voice was reaching her.

Kakashi realizing that he won't get through the card defense with ranged attacks pulled out a kunai and prepared to charge into close combat, when he heard his opponent shouting again. His sight of him was blocked by the floating cards so he hadn't seen him doing another set of signs.

"Card Tricks: Ace of Diamonds!" the ace of diamonds flew out of his hand with incredible speed, flying circles around Kakashi not seeable for the untrained eye. Before Kakashi could react to this threat were lightning strikes coming out of the card, hitting him from different locations around him. It was like standing inside a thunder storm, with the strikes coming from all sides.

C was grinning at the sight in front of him. The famous Copycat sank to the ground, struck down by one of his aces, literally. He couldn't help but chuckle at his own joke, with the ace cards being his aces during a fight. „Well, guess that's it. Was easier than I thought. Now we get the bounty on top and might even be able to reconsider the fate of the merchandise, with the pursuer finished." he spoke to himself, smiling.

Walking towards Kakashi did he fail to realize that his opponent was still moving. After walking half the way did Kakashi suddenly throw the kunai he pulled out earlier and hit C in his knee. C was backstepping, while Kakashi slowly got up from the ground. "Seems like you haven't gotten all informations from the bingo book. I'm a lightning user and your attack didn't really bothered me." C frowned at Kakashi's words.

Pulling out the kunai from his knee and throwing it to the ground did he spoke through gritted teeth. "Fine, whatever, you want it, you can have it. I got permission to use them and I will use them. Prepare yourself." he lost his temper because he was tricked twice now. He usually was the trickster, not the other way around. He let another three cards slide from his sleeve, throwing them to the ground in front of him, doing another set of signs. "Card Tricks: Joker Release!" was all he shouted before a smoke screen covered the area.

Kakashi's eye went wide when the smoke disappeared, revealing three additional men standing on the road. All of them were dressed in the standard green shinobi uniform of Konoha. "That's... one of our guard teams. How? Why? What..." he couldn't finish because the three additional shinobi charged at him at once, one having a kunai in each hand, another one using a short sword while the third went through a set of handsigns, preparing for a fire style jutsu.

"You know them? Seems like I had a bad draw then. Anyway, since you are intrested in my style, I'll tell you." C sat down on the ground crossleged, placing another two cards in front of him, the ace and jack of spades, starting with a complex series of signs. He was using his jokers to distract Kakashi that he could do his jutsu.

"See, if we capture shinobi that aren't worth any as merchandise and can't be formed into useable members for us do we have other options as well. To make it short, these three don't wanted to cooperate with us and are now more or less brainwashed weapons, sealed in my special cards to be summoned when needed. But since it's an expensive effort with all the work and material am I mostly not allowed to use them. Anyway..." he was still going through his signs while talking, watching Kakashi fight against the three Konoha shinobi.

Kakashi heard what his opponent was saying, realizing that these three were already lost. Luckily for him was this guard team setup one with three chunin, so it wasn't too hard for him to fight all three at once. He was more concerned that his opponent did a long series of signs and that he wasn't able to interrupt him.

Trying to finish it quickly did he charge at the three chunin, dodging the sword attack of the one and hitting him in return fatal with his kunai. He had to jump backward when another fire jutsu was flying his way, landing in front of the third. While the third tried to land the finishing blow to Kakashi did he drop to the ground and gave a kick to the legs, throwing the chunin to the ground and quickly finishing him.

From there did he pull out another three kunai throwing them at the last of them. While he was able to use decent fire style justu on mid-range were his reflexes not the best and he got hit by all three kunai, dropping down dead as well. Without the support of his teammates was he an easy target. However, Kakashi wasn't quick enough because C was just finishing with his last sign.

"I can understand why the bounty on your head is that high, Copycat, but now it's over for you. Card Tricks: Black Jack!" he shouted, placing both hands on the two cards laying in front of him. For a second there was nothing happening and Kakashi was wondering if his opponent screwed his jutsu, before he froze out of fear. From behind C was a shadowy figure raising, wearing a giant scythe that seemed to be as shadowy as the figure itself.

"Fear the mighty Black Jack. Fear the reaper!" C whispered, not moving at all. The jutsu had one major drawback. While he was able to summon a nearly invincible fighter that most likely was related to the Death Reaper itself was he in return bound in place, forced to provide a steady chakra flow into the cards he used for summoning. It was a risky jutsu, he knew that, but so far was he lucky enough to win when he had to use it.

Kakashi watched the shadowy figure advancing toward him, also realizing that C wasn't moving anymore. He saw the weak point of this jutsu right away, but would he be able to exploit it? He dodged the giant scythe a few times, being driven back by it. 'I see. The figure he summoned is well aware of the fact that the summoner is defenseless at the moment and trying to get as much distance between me and his summoner. That might be a problem... or not.' he thought to himself, dodging some more attacks.

"Well, the fight sure was intresting, but it's over now. I admit that you know how to handle your cards..." he dodged another scythe swing by jumping up high, giving him enough time to do some handsigns. "But rendering yourself unable to move was a mistake. Water Style: Water Needles!" he shouted, gaining a horrified look from C. While the Water Needles were a weak attack by themselfs, was he unable to dodge them and got hit by dozens of them, created in all the water that splashed around him when he blocked the Water Dragon at the beginning.

C groaned in pain and was unable to keep the chakra flow up resulting in the shadowy figure disappearing back into the darkness it came from. He couldn't believe that he played his trump card and lost. Still sitting on the ground was he simply looking towards Kakashi who was coming closer to him step by step.

"Alright, you won. I give up. Are you going to finish me now or will my fate be that of torture til death to get informations out of me?" he looked up at Kakashi, who in return looked down on him. He could see that Kakashi was in thought about what to do.

"I would say you aren't moving while I'm getting the kids. Once I have them and heard what they have to say will I decide on your fate." Kakashi answered, already walking towards the carriage and not looking at C at all. C knew that his life was over now, one way or another. He wouldn't try to run cause if he made it back would she punish him and he was sure that in comparison to her punishment would everything the Copycat would decide be a better outcome for him. So he sat there and waited for him to return with the kids...

Inside the Carriage

Kakashi reached the carriage and opened it, looking inside. What he saw kinda shocked him. It wasn't the fact that the kids were bound and tied to the walls of the carriage, he expected that. It was more what he saw with each kid individually. Naruto was still struggling with his bounds, not really paying attention to anything else. He was trying to get free long enough now to have hurt his skin with the constant rubbings of the rope.

The state Hanabi was in shocked him the most, seeing that she had a blank expression and wasn't reaction to anything. He saw this quite often when young shinobi, mostly genin, returned from missed. She was clearly traumatized and he wasn't surprised, considering her young age and what she experienced the last two weeks.

Hinata seemed to be the only one still with her mind intact right now and turned towards Kakashi the moment she heard the carriage being opened. She had a slight smile on her lips. "We are saved. I'm glad... Hey, Hanabi, the spooky white hair guy is here to rescue us again. Do you hear? Everything is good now." she said, directing her words again towards her sister.

Naruto was hearing the words as well and looked up, finally relaxing and stopping his struggles. It took Hanabi a few moments more, before she blinked her eyes and looked around, seeing her sister smile and then seeing that someone came for them. "Saved... I..." she started crying, loosing all strength in her body.

Kakashi who was currently untying Hinata, since she was nearest to the opening, was looking at Hanabi with worry in his eyes. The moment Hinata was free did she move over to her sister, hugging her tightly and untying her as well. "Everything is fine now. I'm here, Hanabi, and I won't leave." once she had her sister completely untied did she pull her deeper into her hug, holding her tightly and gently stroking her back.

Naruto shouted once Kakashi removed the gag. "Where is he? I'm going to kill him. Free me and I will kill him!" the anger of Naruto was clearly seeable to everyone and Kakashi stopped untying him.

"I think I will wait til you calmed down a little." he said aloud and turned towards the sisters, ignoring Naruto's protests.

While he was focused on Naruto did Hinata remove the collars around her and her sisters neck. Looking back to Kakashi, still holding her sister, did she raise her hand holding out one collar. "Could you please destroy this?" she asked quietly, handing the collar with her name engraved on the tag over to Kakashi who nodded and did a small fire style jutsu to burn the collar in an instant.

He wasn't giving it any second thought. He was aware of what was going to happen to these kids and he figured it was natural that she wanted that collar destroyed, but he failed to realize that one collar was already missing. He just burned one and another one was still around Naruto's neck. Not that he would have cared anyway.

Hanabi was finally back out of her state, having calmed downed and taking in her surroundings. She hugged her sister back who smiles at her, before looking towards Kakashi, noting that Naruto was still tied. „Is he... still here?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, he is. And his fate is still undecided. I wanted to see and talk to you kids before deciding anything." he said with a smile, getting a small nod from Hanabi. She figured that Kakashi kinda felt the same way regarding the man who drove the carriage. He wasn't plain evil and treated them not too bad while they were captured by him. He had his orders and was following them but he still cared for their fate.

"What? Finish him. He tried to sell us as slaves. He kidnapped us. He... just kill him!" Naruto shouted, still not calmed down at all.

"And that's why you are still tied up." Kakashi stated bluntly, not even looking towards Naruto.

Hanabi smiled at that before speaking. "I want to talk to him. You comming sis?" Hinata nodded and followed after Hanabi and Kakashi out of the carriage, leaving a struggling and cursing Naruto inside.

They walked over towards C who was still sitting crosslegged on the ground, not having moved at all. All he did was getting rid of his hood to have it slightly more comfortable. Kakashi stayed back a little, watching the scene while Hanabi approached the man with Hinata following closely behind her. "Hey C..." she said quietly, getting his attention...


	10. Chapter 9 - Afterglow

_**Edit Note, 9th of September 2016:**_ Nothing major, really. I just corrected the effect of the seal slightly to better describe what I had in mind. It doesn't really changed the effect and absolutely not the story at all. Just small corrections.

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 _ **Authors Note:**_ I know I said this would be Hinata's birthday chapter - but I realized two major mistakes while I was writing.  
The first was that there was just no way to get both the birthday preparations and the birthday into one chapter with the limited amount of time I have (my chapters landed on an average of ~9000 words lately and that's a bit limited as well).  
The second was my brain complaining about the timeline. Hinata's birthday is late in december, but I'm still some months away from it, theoretically (without ever having mentioned what month or time we are in currently - but my brain does have a plan). And I just couldn't write a few month timeskip without starting events that they could do during the skip, so...

I realized these things two days or so into writing so I had to change the direction slightly, turning this into a kind of filler chapter. There will be some loose strings picked up and explained (some current ones but also an older one) with slight advancement of the events as well.  
I really do wonder if the older loose string was on anyones mind or if you simply discarded it as something given? Anyway, it should be good for a few smiles and laughs.

Next chapter will be about the birthday preparations and the start of training for them (at least Naruto - he's going to get something new/different - I finally decided on a first tweak to his future skillset). And the chapter after will then be the birthday chapter.

Hope you aren't disappointed now. Enjoy this chapter - and yes, they are there again: my evil, evil cliffhangers (or more loose strings I can pick up at later times)... ;-)

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 **A Tale of Two Sisters – Chapter 9: Afterglow**

"Ah, the little one. It seems like fate saved you from the future she planned for you. I would have decided in another way, but I guess you know that already, huh? So, how can this dead man help you?" C spoke calmly, watching Hanabi into her eyes.

Hanabi stayed silent for a few moments, breathing deep and calm, before she spoke up. "I wanted to thank you for helping me realize some things. Guess we might have become friends if we met another way..." she watched him carefully before looking towards her sister. "Sis? Got some words for him too?"

Hinata nodded and looked C into his eyes, blushing slightly. "I... thought about your words. I was upset about them, but I guess you were correct. Thank you for helping me realize." she said quietly, getting a small smile from C and a surprised look from Hanabi, who of course knew what her sister were talking about.

"No problem at all. It was a pleasure having met you. Little one, I would like to give you something." he pulled a single card out of his sleeve and handed it over to her. "The Ace of Clubs. You do remember the Ace of Hearts I used? This one is similiar, but contains other things. I'm sure you will figure out how to get the contents in the near future and you might or might not want to use them. It's up to you."

He gave her a smile before looking towards Kakashi. "So, Copycat, how's your decision? As you can see, I haven't run and I will accept what is to come. I even made peace with my latest victims, I'm having no regrets." he spoke calmly, waiting patiently. Kakashi looked towards the girls, getting a shrug followed by a nod from Hanabi, who turned around to walk back to the carriage to release Naruto, Hinata following her.

"Well, emotionally should I kill you for kidnapping kids from my village. Logically should I arrest you for your crimes and bring you to T&I that we can get more information about your organization." he stated his thoughts as matter of facts. "Humanly however, seeing that the kids are alright and that the girls don't hold a grudge on you as person... could I let you go, hoping that you won't engage with your organization again."

C was raising an eyebrow at that last statement, looking at Kakashi in disbelief. "You are kidding, right? My life is over, no matter what, and you are really thinking about letting me go? Are you insane or something?" Kakashi simply shrugged at that statement. "Fine, if you really don't want to get your hands on me..." he went through a short set of signs before speaking. "Card Tricks: Card Return." on which all cards shattered around were flying back towards him, forming one huge pile which he picked up and put away.

"In that case will I take my leave and go into hiding. If she finds me am I dead..." he stated matter of factly. "Here, catch." he tossed a joker card towards Kakashi who catched it with ease. "If the little one ever becomes a shinobi, give her that, will ya?"

Kakashi nodded. "Can do that, sure. Well, I should take the kids back to the village I guess." he spoke lazyly while walking towards the carriage to pick the kids up, not looking back to C who was disappearing into the forest.

Hokage office

"...and that's what happened on my rescue mission, Hokage-sama." Kakashi finished his report, standing inside the Hokage office together with the three kids. He explained his confrontation with the earth user and the fight against the card trickster.

"So you are saying that your opponent tricked you and managed to get away while you wanted to finish him? I see... at least are the kids back safely." the Hokage smiled at the kids. "Though I'm worried that they had one of our guard teams under their control."

Kakashi nodded. "That's really worrysome. But it would explain why the kids could leave the village undetected. The question is, who wrote the report Cat collected."

"Indeed. I'll let a team investigate this case. Anyway..." the Hokage addressed the kids now. "Would you please tell me what exactly happened? What you were doing out in the forest and what you can remember from being taken prisoner? Any information regarding these people might help us."

"I'm not remembering much, old man..." Naruto said quietly. "I was knocked out most of the time." he looked down to the ground, seeming to be frustrated by that.

Hanabi stepped forward. 2Uhm... there wasn't much we could tell. They were all wearing full body suits, hiding everything that would identify them. Though it seemed like they were lead by a fearsome woman. They never used names, only addressing her as she." she calmly explained.

"Hmm, I see. That really isn't much but it has to do. Anything else? I heard you were investigating the ruins?" the Hokage was smiling honestly at the kids.

"We did. And we found a sealed scroll in a hidden basement room." Hinata said, pointing to Naruto. "I'm not sure if they took our stuff... Naruto-kun, do you still have the scroll?"

Naruto blinked his eyes a few times, trying to clear his mind for the moment. He looked towards Hinata and then down his clothes before searching for the scroll where he put it. After a few moments did he find it and stepped forward to place it atop the desk. "Here it is, old man. We tried to open it but it didn't work."

The Hokage checked the scroll and raised an eyebrow. "That's an old seal. It will take some time to figure out how to unseal it. I will inform you once we were able to. Anything else?" placing the scroll in one of his drawers did he look back at the group in front of him.

Hanabi looked at her sister and then towards the Hokage, shaking her head. "No Hokage-sama. That's all that happened."

"Very well. Again, I'm glad that you are back safely. But please stay inside the village from now on. That's the second time you left it and the second time you got attacked. I don't want to risk you out there again. Understood?" the Hokage stated calmly, getting nods from all three kids. "Very well, you all are dismissed."

While the kids left the office did Kakashi stay behind, waiting for the door to close before speaking up again. "Actually, there is one more thing."

Pulling out his pipe and firing it up did the Hokage let out a sigh. "Knowing you did your opponent not flee but you let him go, right?"

Kakashi nodded at this statement. "He wasn't an ordinary bandit or something. From what I can tell did he do the things he did out of some kind of honor or duty. With his failure is he unable to go back to this organization and, in my eyes most important, did the girls forgive him. They seemed to get along quite well and he had unique skills. Said he would go into hiding but also left something behind to give to Hanabi once she becomes a kunoichi."

The Hokage took a deep breath of his pipe, exhaling the smoke. "I understand. I trust your judgement on this. Hopefully will he appear again and provide us with informations. Anyway... I'm sure I will see the girls again soon." he smiled slightly, getting a confused look from Kakashi. "Oh, don't mind me. Just an old mans rumbling."

In front of the Hokage tower

"I'm starving..." Naruto complained loudly, holding his grumbling stomach. "It's been ages since I ate something..."

Hanabi giggled. "If you hadn't provoked them to knock you out would you have got something. Shall we go to the ramen stand from before?" she asked, getting a frantic nod from Naruto who was already on his way.

"Always thinking with his stomach it seems." Hinata said while giggling herself. "Uhm... I guess we will have a talk once we are home?" she asked quietly, looking towards Hanabi who gave her a knowing smile and a nod.

"We sure will, sis. But now we should try to catch up with Naruto. Common!" she said smiling and running in the same direction Naruto left before just a second later Hinata was also following.

Naruto was sitting inside the ramen stand, having already ordered for all three of them when the girls finally arrived. He was giving them a big grin while they sat down. "Took you long enough. So... that was our last adventure for the time being, huh?" he asked, looking towards the girls.

Hanabi shrugged her shoulders. "Well, Hokage-sama said so. Not much we can do I guess. But maybe should we focus on Academy anyway. We weren't able to do anything at all and we need to learn how to defend ourselfs."

Hinata smiled slightly. "I'll always defend you, Hanabi. No matter what happens."

"I know sis, but... all our clan is good at is taijutsu. The last time were they attacking with fire style from range, this time did they trap us with earth style. What could we have done, even if we were stronger?" Hanabi tilted her head, looking her sister into the eyes.

Hinata looked back, before averting her eyes and looking at the ground. "I... don't know. You are right. We need to learn more varity." she said quietly.

"I'm sure you two will become super strong, so don't worry about these things!" Naruto was smiling brightly while thinking about what he heard while being prisoner. 'The boy doesn't have any style or visible talents, that's what they said about me. I need to learn and train too.' he frowned to himself, before suddenly cheering up, seeing Tauchi serving the ramen.

"Here you go, kids. Enjoy!" he exclaimed with his natural happyness, giving them all a smile. "And you aren't fighting anymore as I can see. That's a good thing too."

"Fighting?" Naruto asked confused before starting to eat his ramen, not really knowing what Teuchi is talking about.

"Oh, right..." Hinata said quietly, getting an evil glance in her eyes. "There is someone here who spilled my secret to someone who was part of this secret..." Naruto was suddenly feeling not too well, gulping loudly at the look Hinata had in her eyes.

"Sis, be a good girl. I think we had enough stress because of this topic already. No reason to bring it up again." Hanabi gave her sister an innocent smile. "Or shall I overthink what I'm going to do? I haven't forgotten..."

Hinata sighed and let her head hang for a moment, before nodding and starting to eat as well. Naruto chuckled nervously, not really knowing what just happened. But the reminder of the girls loud argument inside his apartment was something he didn't need right now.

They finished their meals in silence and said their goodbyes, heading to their respectives homes. The things that happened consumed the whole day and it was late evening already. When the girls reached their home were they relieved that nobody stopped them to question where they were during the day or why they came back that late. Seems like the information of the kidnapping didn't made the round yet.

Hyuga Compound, Hinata's room

"Okay sis, we need to talk. The things C said, the things you said. Am I figuring your feelings toward me right?" Hanabi asked her sister, not giving any time for an awkward situation to create itself or her sister to think about something. She wanted answers and she wanted them now.

Hinata was looking at her younger sister, touching her lower lip in thought before nodding slowly. "Yes, I'm sure you do. The first thoughts came to me when we were ambushed. And after having time to think about them do I have to say that the words of C are indeed correct. I am yours to serve and to be commanded... misstress..." she said quietly and looking at the ground, her face blushing.

Hanabi was silent for some time and Hinata felt uncomfortable by it, but didn't dare to look up. Five minutes passed before Hanabi finally spoke up. "You really changed a lot, sis. In a good way. You are open minded and your shyness more or less gone. You could live your life without me now and not have any trouble at all. But hearing your words..."

She walked over to her sister, grabbing her chin and lifting Hinata's head to look her into her eyes. "I won't let you go, sis. I think I need you as much as you need me. We are meant for each other and should never be seperated. We are bonded not only by blood but by something deeper as well. Do you understand me?"

Hinata gave her sister a nod. "I... do understand. I will always be by your side, Hanabi. As your sister and as your slave, whichever way you need me at the time to come."

Hanabi gave her a big smile. "Hey sis, that sounded someway poetic. Well said." the smile turned into a grin. "Now would you please get me the book? Think I want to read a bit before finally doing to sleep."

Hinata nodded and walked over to where she hid her treasure chest, pulling it out and placing it on her desk. It took her just moments to get the book out of it to hand it over to her sister who still had this big smile on her face before wishing a good night and leaving to get to her own room.

Hinata waited a few minutes at her desk, not doing anything. When she heard no sounds outside her room anymore did she pull something out of her pocket. She carefully slid her fingers over the object, over every detail of it, feeling the texture of the material. She smiled at the object before placing it inside her box, next to the souvenir she had from her last adventure.

"I know my place in life now and I am thankful for that." she whispered to herself, focusing on the object she just placed in her box with her eyes. "However, I will never forget the moment my sister... no, my misstress was in the same place than me. I just hope she won't mind it at all..." she slid her finger over the engraved name of Hanabi on the tag attached to the collar, before closing the treasure chest and hiding it again.

'But it's kinda strange. When I first picked up an item as souvenir from an adventure turned it out to be a damaged slave collar. And now have I gotten another one. This time is it even a new one with a readable tag. I wonder if I can find more on my adventures. I should try to make a collection out of them or something.' she giggled to herself at her own thoughts, before heading to bed to get some well needed rest after this stressful events of the day.

Naruto's apartment

Naruto was in a real bad mood this evening. He was sitting on his couch, thinking about the events that happened. "It's so frustrating..." talking to himself about his own thoughts, getting more frustrated by that. "I really couldn't do anything. I was useless and couldn't protect the girls. That's..."

He gave his couch a punch and laid down on it, looking at the ceiling. "But who would teach me new ways to fight, who would train me to become stronger? I could ask the girls, but they said themselfs that their family style is pure taijutsu. We would have been in the same situation even if I could fight that way. I never managed to reach the ones that were attacking us..."

Standing up and walking towards his bedroom did he continue to talk to himself. "Iruka-sensei said I am talented with traps. He was impressed by the modified schoolbag I used for the paint bombs and that I should focus on that, but... that wouldn't have helped us either. I can't place a trap when the enemy is already engaging us..."

"Beside, who could or would teach me in these kind of things? I doubt that Iruka-sensei has too much knowledge. Argh... it's so frustrating. No matter how I look at it, I was useless to protect the girls and the ideas I have for becoming stronger wouldn't really help as well. It's totally cursed..." he sighed while he got out of his clothes, getting ready to sleep for that day.

"I will totally become stronger, believe it!" he shouted to noone in particular. "I just don't know how..." he gave a last sigh before laying down on his bed and pulling the blanket atop himself, trying to get some sleep after this eventful day. A day that showed him that he is weak right now. That he has to improve if he want to protect his friends.

Somewhere unknown

"What did you say?" a furious woman asked her subordinate who was backing away from her. "It sounded like we lost our merchandise because C lost against the Copycat. But I'm sure that I must have misunderstood what you were saying..." she had an evil glance in her eyes that promised lots of pain.

"I can only tell what I found out. C was the one for information gathering... I found the carriage inside the forest. There were signs of fighting all around and he and the merchandise was nowhere to see. I even found three used and empty joker cards scattered there and by the looks of it did he also summoned Black Jack. The evil aura of it could still be felt. I really don't know why he lost..." the thicker man with the deep voice explained.

The woman shook her head by these informations. "I can't understand that. He never lost and the Copycat should have been an easy target for him. Sure, his bounty was high, but C took out higher ones..." she sighed. "So we lost the profit from the merchandise and weren't able to get the bounty in addition to loosing one of our best man. No good month at all... J, somehow will suffer for that."

"If I may suggest changing countries? I don't think it would be safe to stay here any longer for the moment." the man now identified as J said, shuddering by the look he got in reply and trying to ignore her threats to punish someone.

"Don't push your luck..." the woman hissed quietly. "But I guess it might be better. Fine, we'll leave. Do the usual once everyone is gone. No mistakes, understood?" her tone was one you shouldn't argue with if you knew what was good for your life.

"Understood. Nobody will be able to find this hideout once I'm done." he answered, breathing deeply once she was gone. "I know why she is the leader, but she still scares me to death..." J mumbled to himself, preparing for his work.

One hour later was the base abadoned by the organization and J went through a complex set of handsigns. He knew that his maze hadn't done much to delay the Copycat cause it was created in a hurry. But he had no rush right now, he was careful and fully concentrated on his work.

"Earth Style: Hide in Earth." he mumbled quietly, putting his hands on the ground. The landscape protested to his jutsu, but had no chance. Just 30 seconds later was the hideout and attached cavesystem gone, completely sucked up by the earth. Nobody ever found the things he hid in the earth. And where are no traces where no followers. He smiled, knowing that his work was the major reason why nobody knew about their organization. Smiling to himself was he leaving the place, following her to their new area of operation.

The next morning

It was early in the morning and the sun just started to rise when Hinata woke up to a noise and movements of her bed that shook her body slightly. Opening her eyes slowly was she seeing the outlines of a figure sitting on her bed. She blinked her eyes a few times to clear her vision and realized her sister sitting on her bed, grinning at her.

"Hanabi?" she mumbled sleepy. "It's too early... let me sleep." she turned around in bed and wanted to go back to sleep, but was suddenly fully awake when Hanabi dropped a heavy book right in front of her face.

"Naughty girls shouldn't sleep when the sun is rising." Hanabi said grinning, watching her sister trying to realize what this book in front of her is. It took her some moments but then did her eyes turn wide open and she slightly paled before averting her eyes from the book to her sister.

"You... read it, right?" it was more of a statement then a question and Hanabi just nodded. "And now?" she asked quietly. "Will you tease me about it?"

Hanabi reached out to pat her sisters head. "I would never do that sis. Who do you think I am?" she grinned from ear to ear seeing her sister let her head hang in defeat. "Okay, that's really all I wanted to do. I'm just wondering why you hid this book. It's way more fun to read then the ones I have. Less painful and deadly and more fun."

Hinata sighed and looked up again at her sister. "It was embarassing when I got it from Naruto and decided to hide it away. The topics are... not normal." she said quietly.

"And you were afraid that I would buy you a cage or something?" Hanabi rolled her eyes. "How crazy do you think I am, sis? That would be way too strange and we would been found out in no time." she explained.

Hinata was silent for a moment. "With other words you would do it if there were no risk in being found out. Really Hanabi, you can be scary at times..."

Hanabi shrugged at that comment. "I just like to try new things. That's no secret at all." she stuck her tongue out at her sister. "Speaking of, you should get up and get dressed. We should talk to father if there is a way to learn more or other things. There must be more than our taijutsu and we should find and learn it. Don't want to be helpless again..."

Hinata nodded and got out of bed, dressing herself in a plain grey-brown t-shirt with matching pants. She did agree that they needed to learn more things for the future, but she wasn't too eager to talk to her father about it. Gladly will Hanabi do most of the talking and she was thankful for that.

Ten minutes later were they sitting in the kitchen having breakfast together with Hiashi. The situation and silence between them was a bit awkward and the girls figured that their father wasn't aware of the events of the day before or he would act differently. So how to start the topic without raising suspicions on his side?

Hanabi tried to start the topic somehow innocently. "Uhm, father? Could you tell us more about our clan's fighting style?" she asked, looking curious in his direction.

Hiashi raised an eyebrow at his daughter before answering. "What exactly do you want to know? You both are trained in it for some years now and should know the basics about it. The more complex moves and techniques will follow once you are shinobi and older."

'Great, an answer that isn't answering anything...' Hanabi thought to herself, before continueing. "Yes, I know that. We are more intrested in knowing what else there is to it. I mean... we can damage a body real good and so, but it's all just taijutsu. What if there is an opponent using ranged attacks?" she tried to word it carefully, not giving away what happened.

"Well, we have techniques that can defend against basicly any kind of attack, even ranged ones. But they are hard to learn and harder to master. Also we can attack on range as well, using the same method as for our style but instead concentrating on hitting the air with it." he explained, watching his daughters.

Hinata kept silent while Hanabi was thinking about her fathers words. "So basicly are you saying that we aren't good against ranged fighters, right? If the defense is hard to master and this attack is the only one..." she trailed off her sentence, falling back into thoughts.

"That's no nice way to put it, Hanabi. Our clan is pretty talented and with our eyes are we able to see attacks others wouldn't see. I don't see your problems with that. Besides, there are reasons why ninja teams consist of four people. No ninja is good in all aspects and that's why they support each other." he was slowly loosing his temper by his daughters backtalking. Sure, he was glad that she showed intrest but she clearly was too negative about it.

"But what if your team isn't around? If you got seperated? Shouldn't you know at least something for these cases?" she asked, some worry in her voice. "Why not some simply elemental jutsu's? We should have an element like everyone else, right?"

"Okay little lady, now listen and listen good!" that's it, he lost his temper. "We always were succesful with our Gentle Fist style and never got problems with the things you are thinking about. The Hyuga clan isn't using elemental jutsu's and we aren't starting now. You understand me? If you are afraid then don't become a shinobi. And if you want to overcome your worries then train harder!" he was enraged by the time he finished his speech and left the kitchen to cool off.

The girls sat there for a while before Hinata spoke up. "That... went not too good..." she sighed. "So, what are we doing now?"

Hanabi shook her head. "I'm not sure, sis. I'm not sure... I'll think about it. Hopefully will I have an idea soon. As sooner we start on the problem as sooner won't we be helpless anymore." she stretched herself a bit before smiling at her sister. "Change of topic. Your birthday is coming, sis. And we will celebrate it!"

Hinata looked kinda dumbstruck at her sister, blinking her eyes a few times. "My... birthday? Hanabi, that's still over three months from now. Aren't you a bit early with planing a celebration?"

"You think so? Can't start early enough with preparations. The location, the invites, the presents, activities, food, presents, guests, presents, security to keep idiots away and not to forget the presents!" Hanabi grinned at her sister who only shook her head.

"Why do I feel like you are sheming something? You said presents four times... I'm a bit worried now..." Hinata said quietly, not looking into her sisters eyes. She was sure that there would be a evil glance in it and she didn't want to see it right now.

"Huh? Did I?" Hanabi played innocent but knew quite well that her sister got her right away. 'I knew that you are smart as well, sis. Well, now do you have three months to worry about it and I have more then enough time to prepare everything. That will be so much fun.' she thought to herself, not being able to keep the smirk away from her lips.

"Anyway, I'm going for a walk through the village. Some fresh air and time to think a bit sounds good right now. Feel free to do whatever you want today, sis. Seeya." Hanabi gave her sister a wave and left the kitchen, leaving Hinata behind. She thought about speaking to her sister but kept silent, figuring that she as well could need some time to think. Not even twelve hours ago were they held prisoners and on their way to be sold...

Somewhere inside the village

Hanabi was walking through the streets of the village deep in thought about ways to become stronger and to learn new tricks. The talk she had with her father was everything else but successful and she wasn't sure who she might ask for help. She wasn't paying attention to her surroundings and it took her by surprise when someone grabbed her from behind to stop her.

Out of shock and reflex did she turn around and slapped the person right across the cheek, preparing to furious yell at whoever it was, just to stop the moment she realized who it was she just slapped.

Naruto was rubbing his cheek, feeling uneasy by the way the people around them looked at the scene. "What was that for, Hanabi-chan? That hurt, you know?" he was slightly concerned by her actions but not too surprised, considering what happened the day before.

"Uhm... sorry..." she said quietly. "I was in thought and got surprised when you grabbed me. You okay?" realizing that they got many looks right now did she grab his hand and pulled him with her, getting away from the villagers. They could talk while walking.

Naruto wasn't resisting and followed Hanabi while answering. "Yeah, I'm okay. Guess the events are haunting you, huh? It's the same for me. I was awake half of the night, trying to come up with ways to become stronger. I wasn't able to protect you two and that really bothers me. Speaking of... it's rare to see you without Hinata-chan."

Hanabi nodded. "Yeah, I wanted some thinking time for myself. And sure thing are the events on my mind. We talked to our father this morning about learning something else beside our clan's fighting style but he got all upset. I've no idea right now as well..." she was still pulling him by his hand through the streets not really paying any attention to it.

Naruto however being kinda used to the looks, stares and hate from the villagers noticed that right away and got kinda angry that their looks were now placed on Hanabi. "Hey, why don't we go to my apartment to think about things? I don't like how the villagers are looking at you right now..." he said quietly that only Hanabi could hear it.

She blinked her eyes a few times, finally watching around her. Not only did she realize the looks they got but also that she was still holding his hand which she let go off quickly, before nodding. "Sounds like a good idea. Had enough fresh air for the moment anyway..." she answered as quietly as Naruto and they headed towards his apartment.

Somewhere else inside the village

Hinata was strolling through the village with no real destination. It was the first time in quite some while that she was out by herself and not following her sister around. She kinda felt uneasy by that but realized that it was simply because she was used to being at Hanabi's side and not because of her old shyness. Smiling to herself did she think about how much she had changed during the last two years and because of the recent events.

"Hey, Hinata-chan!" a voice called out for her and she looked around, trying to figure out who was calling. It sounded at least familiar. It took her a moment before she spotted Ino a bit down the street who was waving and smiling at her so she headed in her direction.

"Hello Ino." she greeted the blonde. "It's nice to see you. You... look a bit stressed. Are your free days that busy?" she tilted her head and smiled at Ino.

"Stressed, well, actually, yeah... See, I was looking for you since yesterday but you were nowhere to find. Well, til now at least. Glad I found you." she talked quickly and jumped from one thought to another, slightly confusing Hinata who couldn't help but giggle.

"Calm down, Ino. You found me, right? So, why were you looking for me?" she walked over to a near bench and sat down with Ino following her. After a moment of hesitation did Ino sit down as well.

"I wanted to appologize to you. You know... because of the whole gossip thing at the ramen stand. Should have been more careful with what I was saying and I felt guilty for the situation that started between you three. It's just... I didn't knew how to appologize properly..." Ino explained while Hinata was listening.

Hinata took a deep breath before calmly speaking. "It's okay Ino, really. Just... please don't mention it anymore, okay? I already had two fights about that topic with Hanabi while Naruto-kun was watching and... just please don't mention it anymore, okay? We kinda settled it." she gave her friend a small smile.

"Uhm, okay, sure. I still wanted to appologize to you and I thought about how I could do it, so... I thought about what things you might like and was looking for something small I could give to you." Ino kinda struggled with her words and took a strand of her hair between two fingers, twisting it. To appologize to someone seemed to be one of her weak skills.

Hinata giggled and pulled Ino into a hug. "You didn't need to. I already forgave you for that you know? You should know after these two years that I'm kind and forgiving, right?" she had a caring smile on her face while Ino nodded slightly.

"Yeah, I know. But still..." she put her hand in her pocket and pulled out a small stuffed animal fox, placing it in Hinata's lap. "As I said, I was thinking about what you like and all I could think of was Naruto. And when I spotted this small fox, well... it kinda has the same whisker marks and I thought it would be a good thing to get you."

Hinata was stunned for a moment, watching at the small plushed fox sitting in her lap, before picking it up. "Ino, it's so cute. Thank you so much." a bright smile was entering Hinata's face. The fox really reminded her on Naruto.

Ino smiled as well. "Glad you like it. So, what were you doing yesterday? I'm super curious because nobody seemed to have seen any of you three." and she was back to her normal self and into gossiping mode.

Hinata paled slightly at that question and gulped once before answering. "I... don't want to talk about it, Ino. Please... just leave this topic alone, okay?" her voice was pretty quiet and serious which surprised Ino who simply nodded in return. She made a note for herself to ask Hanabi or Naruto later and entered a simple smalltalk with Hinata for now.

Naruto's apartment

"I don't get it! Why do they hate you so much? And they even gave me the same looks this time. And why? Just because I was close to you and holding your hand? Stupid villagers..." Hanabi was angry right now, walking up and down Naruto's apartment. He was used to these kind of looks, but it annoyed him as well that from time to time the girls got them too. But today was the worst so far.

Naruto sat on his couch and sighed. "At least haven't they really tried to attack or kill me since I started hanging out with you two. I know it's mostly just because they know who your father is, but still. It's an improvement." he gave a weak smile, not really buying his words himself. But it kinda worked to calm Hanabi down a bit.

"Yeah, I know. Have you ever tried to ask the old man about it? Or maybe we could ask Cat or Spooky?" she offered before sitting down on the couch as well.

"The old man is always avoiding the topic when I ask. No chance. But... well, it would be a try to ask the others. Also..." he gave her a grin. "Spooky? Decided that spooky white hair guy is too long?"

Hanabi giggled. "Exactly. I mean, the time you need to call him spooky white hair guy is more then enough for him to be already gone before you finish. And beside of being faster is Spooky also quite catchy, don't you think?"

Naruto couldn't help but to laugh at that explanation before nodding. "Absolutely. I really like how your mind is working, you know? Always quick on new situations and full of good ideas."

"But don't you dare fall in love with me, you hear? I don't want to be the target for when Hinata really get pissed." she laughed as well.

"Speaking of Hinata-chan, now that she knows that everyone knows, well... I thought about getting her something small. I still have the money from the C-rank because I'm not really able to buy anything by myself..." he sighed at his own reminder of how he was treated by the villagers.

"Sounds like a good idea to me. Her birthday is coming soon. Well, okay, in three months and still far away according to her, but still." Hanabi got an evil smirk on her face. "I already teased her about it this morning and she thinks that I'm up to something. Wanted to start the planning soon and you should get her something nice as a present then."

"I hadn't thought about that. Three months, huh? More then enough time to find something I guess." he strechted and relaxed on his couch, thinking about what to get for Hinata.

Hanabi was also relaxing and in her thoughts, having her eyes closed. As usual did her Byakugan activate itself in this situation but she wasn't really paying any attention to it this time. She slowly started to at least ignore it but she still didn't figure how to cancel this auto-activation.

However, some moments later was she starting to pay attention to her vision and she spoke quietly to Naruto. "Uhm... do you know who owns this apartment?"

Naruto got out of his thoughts and looking at the closed eyed Hanabi, wondering about that seemingly reasonless question coming out of the blue. "Not really. The old man gave it to me to live in. Why are you asking?" he was curious to say the least.

"Because I can see seals inside some of the walls..." she stated quietly. "It's the first time I get to relax here completely without Hinata around. For some reason did we always get into an argument between us. But now... am I completely unfocused and spotted these seals by random luck or so." she shrugged slightly.

Naruto thought about the recent fights the girls had in his apartment and nodded. "Yeah, your arguments... well, more like fights... were kinda strange. It was so not like you two to shout at each other. Anyway, what kind of seals do you see?" he asked her, a bit worried now.

"I'm not sure. I never saw something like that. I know how a seal for silencing a room looks, but it's something different for sure." she opened her eyes, deactivating her Byakugan. "But if the old man gave you this apartment should we go and ask him about these seals, don't you think?"

Naruto jumped from his couch. "Sure thing! Who knows what they are for and who placed them. Let's go right away, Hanabi-chan!" he exclaimed loudly, already halfway to the door.

Hanabi was following him quickly. She really wondered about these seals, not to mention that she was worried about them. She had no idea how long these seals were placed there so Naruto might live with them for who knows how long. That needed to be taken care of or at least investigated.

Hokage office

The kids charged into the Hokage office without knocking and ignoring everyone who tried to stop them. Well, they don't really tried. In fact were the guards ordered to always let Naruto pass no matter the situation, not that he would know that. The Hokage cared for the boy, that was something known to the people around him, so they didn't really try to catch Naruto or the Hyuga girl right now.

Once inside got they some angry looks from the two people inside the room. The first was the Hokage, not really happy about the interruption. They could have at least have knocked. The second was a feral looking female they hadn't met so far, but she kinda looked familiar to them. Must be the red face markings that looked like the ones Kiba has.

Realizing what they just did and seeing the looks on them did both gulp, not finding any words to say in this situation. They figured what they did wrong and expected a matching reaction now. What they didn't expect was what happened instead.

The feral looking woman started to laugh. "Got to say, these pups have guts for charging in here just like that. Though it's a shame that they lost them right away as well." she grinned at the kids.

"It's just said that they seem to have no manners at all. I'm used to it from Naruto of course, but I expected the young Hyuga to have better manners. Maybe I should have a talk about it with Hiashi?" the Hokage said, smiling slightly to himself. Hanabi was paling at these words.

"So she's Hiashi's daughter then?" the woman showed off her fang-like canines and licked over them. "So young... must be Hanabi Hyuga then? I heard you gave my pup a hell of a beating, huh?" she was still grinning and Hanabi felt like she was shrinking. Forget the whole kidnap and being sold as slave thing, this woman was way scarier.

"Oh, yeah, I heard about the evaluation fights of the first day. Though it didn't really sounded like a beating to me. More like she was toying with him before averting one of his attacks into a wall I believe." the Hokage took his chin between his fingers, slightly stroking his beard while thinking about it.

"Whatever. He was out cold and that's all that matters. This pup must be talented after all to beat one of my clan that easily, even so it only was my own weak pup." she laughed heartly. "Well, we were done anyway, eh Hokage-sama? Gotta leave now."

The Hokage looked at the woman and nodded. "Yes, your debriefing is finished. You are dismissed. Have a nice day." he smiled gently at her while she walked toward the door.

When she passed the two kids did she stop, patting Hanabi on the head. "Name's Tsume Inuzuka by the way. Thanks for beating up my pup. Hope that was a good lesson for him." she gave Hanabi a grin and opened the door. "But watch out, he's pissed and out for revenge." she laughed again before closing the door behind her while leaving.

Hanabi was still not moving out of shock and wasn't reacting when the Hokage spoke to them. Naruto grabbed her shoulder and shook her lightly. "Hey, snap it. She's gone now. Remember where we are?" he spoke into her ear.

That got her back to reality and she blushed slightly. 2Uhm, yeah, right. Sorry for... intruding, Hokage-sama." she said quietly, slightly bowing towards the Hokage.

"Well, seems like at least some manners are present." the Hokage chuckled. "Would you mind explain to me why you charged into my office like that?" he looked at them curiously, pondering what might be the matter. They just got rescued by Kakashi the last evening. They can't be in trouble again already, can they?

"Sure thing, old man. See, the apartment you gave me? Who does it belong to? Hanabi-chan found some strange seals inside the walls today. I thought I could trust you, old man. But seems like I was wrong, huh? If she wouldn't have found them by chance..." Naruto was entering a rage while talking to the Hokage with Hanabi only nodded to his story.

The Hokage raised an eyebrow, watching the kids. "You found... seals inside the walls? I'm aware that the Byakugan is able to do that, sure, but there shouldn't be any. It's just an apartment. What did they look like?" he addressed the girl standing before him.

Hanabi couldn't help but to shrug at that question. "Totally strange to me. They aren't anything like the silencing seals used inside our compound and they are not even close to any I have seen inside of books..." she shook her head. "I am absolute clueless, Hokage-sama. But they are there."

The Hokage was thinking about what he just learned. Under normal circumstances there really should be no seals inside an apartment. But considering who lived in this specific one should he at least take a look into it to make sure that there were no danger around.

"Alright, I'll come with you right away and take a look at these seals. I'm concerned just like you and want to make sure that everything is fine." he got up from his desk and was smiling. "Well, let's go, shall we? But please not too fast, I'm an old man as you can see."

The three of them left the building and headed towards Naruto's apartment. But since they were walking slower this time would it take some while, so they started some talking with the Hokage. "Say, old man, about what happened... do you know how I might become stronger? I couldn't protect the girls and that's nagging at me..." Naruto said, looking towards the Hokage.

"That's why you are attending the Academy, Naruto. There you are going to learn about being a shinobi, about jutsu and how to use them. I think that should be enough to become stronger." he smiled at the boy.

"You are kidding, right? While I'm thankful that Iruka-sensei is teaching me things am I totally weak. The weakest of the class. Most of the others are trained by their families for years now. And even they wouldn't have had a chance in the situation we were... I need something super special secret to protect the ones close to me!" he exclaimed loudly, getting looks from the villagers around them.

The Hokage noticed the looks with a frown, before focusing back on Naruto. "But something super special secret is exactly that for a reason. Either a secret that none will tell you about or super special that it will only passed inside a family. You would need to find someone willing to teach you anything like that and usually is there none willing to openly share these things..." he explained calmly, noticing the frustration entering Naruto's expression.

"What about you? You are someone special, known for many things. Why can't you teach me?" Naruto asked, watching the Hokage spot on into the eyes with determination.

"Me?" the Hokage asked amused. "I'm just an old man, Naruto. I wouldn't be able to teach you at all. Besides I do have my work as Hokage keeping me busy." he gave Naruto a small sad smile with his words.

"That's no fair, old man. You know that nobody in this village would teach me anything and if the only one caring for me isn't either..." he let his shoulders hang in defeat, sighing.

"Uhm... Hokage-sama? What about the scroll we found? Were you able to open it already?" Hanabi asked, her mind pondering about possibilities.

"No, not yet. The seal used on it is pretty old and we haven't found a way to remove it so far. Why are you asking, Hanabi?" the Hokage raised an eyebrow at the girl, wondering about her thoughts.

"Hmm... well, I understand that. Let's say the scroll contains information on a fighting style or jutsu or something, would you allow us to learn them since we found the scroll?" she had a smile on her face when she finished her question.

The Hokage was thinking about it quite some time before finally answering. "Basicly do I see no problem with that. But even if there might be something like that inside might it be that none of you would be able to learn it. As you should know is everything based on something and with that are things sometimes impossible to learn. First however do we need to find a way to open the seal to see it's contents so it's pure speculation at this point."

Hanabi was grinning from ear to ear. "But you said yes. Maybe now we can learn something new, Naruto. Something that will help us in a situation like we were into."

Naruto wanted to respond to Hanabi, but got interrupted by the Hokage. "However, if the scroll contains secret informations or something like that, what is most likely considering the ruins are an old outpost of the village, will you two, or actually three, won't be allowed to even have a look on it. For your own safety of course."

"Aww, common old man, that's not fair. You don't know what we went through to obtain that scroll in the first place." Naruto protested angrily, glaring at the Hokage.

"I don't know? How long do you think that I'm a shinobi? Retrieving a scroll out of ruins is a C-rank, a B-rank if we know about enemy shinobi being involved. I may have not done something like that at your age, but I have done it quite often. You shouldn't say out things you aren't able to proove, Naruto." still smiling at the boy was he hoping that they would reach his apartment soon to get out of this conversation.

"Soooo..." Hanabi's grin got even wider. "You are saying that what we did was worth a B-rank, right?" she couldn't help but giggle seeing the Hokage slightly pale when he realized what he just said and what Hanabi was hinting.

"Don't twist my words, young lady. I'll think about it, but no promises." he stated calmly. "Well, seems like we arrived. So why don't you show me where you found these seals you were talking about?"

Naruto nodded and opened his apartment, letting Hanabi lead them to a wall in the living room. After activating her Byakugan to check the wall did she point at a specific part of it. "There is one, Hokage-sama. Another one is at the opposite side of the living room and additional three inside the bedroom. They seem to be all identic and these five are the only ones I can see."

Nodding at the information did he channel some chakra in his hand, placing it at the place Hanabi pointed at to get the seal visible. He was raising an eyebrow at the design of it. "That... really is no common seal. It seems custommade to me by someone who has talent in these things."

Hanabi and Naruto were watching the Hokage closely hoping to learn a little about what he was doing right now. He pulled out a piece of paper and placed it atop the seal, channeling more chakra into it. "Alright, I'm drawing a copy of this seal to analyze it properly... all done. And now..." he thought about his options for a moment and decided on one, going through a short set of handsigns and placing both hands atop the seal.

"So, all done. I've deactivated all five seals with this and I will take the copy to analyze it's function. Once we got some information will I send a messenger to inform you. Same goes for the scroll you found. Now if you'll excuse me, my job is a busy one." he gave the kids a gentle smile before leaving the apartment.

Hanabi sat down on the couch again, sighing. "He's hiding something. He does know something about this seal. I could see it in his eyes for a moment when he had a first look on it. His surprise seemed real to me, but he sure recognized it..." she said, stretching her upper body.

"You think? Well, guess we have to wait if and what he will tell us about it, huh?" Naruto answered, getting something to drink for them out of his kitchen. Now that everything important was done for the day could they just hang out and relax a little. Without a plan for becoming stronger was that the best action to do right now, to overcome all the events of these last days.

The Hokage was on his way back to the office and deep in thought. 'Jiraiya, what have you done? I will always recognize your seals when I see them, but what on earth have you created here? What have you used this apartment for before you said that I shall give it to Naruto? Do I really want to analyze your seal or should I simply send a bird and ask you?'

He got interrupted in his thoughts by a high pitched voice calling out to him. "Sarutobi-san, please wait up. I got a message for you from Jiraiya." the voice said, stopping the Hokage right away who turned around to see a small toad messenger behind him.

"I should have known that this might happen. I wonder what he has to say..." he pondered aloud, waiting for the toad to hand him the scroll containing the message over. Once he received it did he waste no time in opening and reading it.

 _'Dear Sensei,_

 _I'm sending you this to ask just one simple question. Why? Why did you have to deactivate the seals I placed inside the apartment that I asked you to hand over to Naruto? These were wonderful seals I created that should help Naruto finding himself a girl and you ruined that._

 _I know you good enough that you took a copy of them to analyze, so I'm saving you the trouble and will explain to you what they were doing til you deactivated them. As I said, I created them to help Naruto find a girl. These seals, strategically placed inside the apartment, are sending constant, untrackable impulses into their surroundings._

 _These impulses do not have any effect on Naruto or any other male that might enter the apartment. They do however have an effect on females and will bring out their true self no matter how deep it's hidden as long as they are inside the range of the seals. The effect of course will vary by each individual based on mental strength, the own feelings and such things. I don't want to bore you with the details._

 _You are an evil man, declining the boy such helping hands from me. You should have known the moment you saw the seals that I created them and should have figured what kind of purpose they might have. An evil, evil man..._

 _I just hope you have a good explanation..._

 _Jiraiya'_

Sarutobi chuckled once he was done reading the scroll. However, he got surprised when a voice behind him spoke up. "That really does sound like a genius seal. Mind giving me the copy of it?" a male asked him to which he turned around.

"Kakashi, you know that sneaking up on people and reading their post isn't something nice to do? And no, you can't get it. It's worse enough that you read Jiraiya's books..." he shook his head in disappointment at Kakashi who simply shrugged.

"And you know that reading a scroll on the street inside a shinobi village isn't the wisest thing? I saw the toad and figured that Jiraiya must have send something, so I got intrested. Well, if you aren't giving me that seal... gotta go. Bye." he disappeared in a swirl of leafs and was gone, before Sarutobi addressed the messenger toad.

"Please inform Jiraiya that his help isn't needed on this matter and that as far as I can tell he found two. He will know what I mean by that and can work with this information." he explained to the messenger toad who gave a quick salute and disappeared inside a smoke screen.

'I should have known that you build a failsafe into your seal that would transport the chakra information of the person deactivating it to you. You may be a pervert, but you sure know how to create seals. Well, guess I shouldn't tell the kids what this seal was doing. They might freak out or something. Well, nothing happened so no reason to worry about it.' he thought to himself before he resumed his way back to the office to get back to his waiting paperwork.

He might have been worried if he would know about the relation between the Hyuga sisters and the fights these two had in Naruto's apartment...


	11. Chapter 10 - Prepare for things?

**_Authors Note:_** Huh? Don't look at me. The real one is at the bottom this time. But don't you dare skip the chapter in between and please enjoy it ;-)

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 **A Tale of two Sisters – Chapter 10: Prepare for... things?**

The next days passed uneventful for them all with daily routine in the Academy and some relaxing and hanging out after it. There were no new informations from the Hokage about the scroll they found and their thoughts about ways to become stronger somehow were deadends all together. While it was frustrating to them did they know that they couldn't do much about it.

It was on the next free day that Hanabi was walking around the village alone, heading for a specific location. Her current thoughts were split between two things: becoming stronger and planing her sisters birthday party. And the first thing she needed for the party was to order the present she wanted to give her because she figured it would need some time to get it.

Once she reached the shop she was looking for did she enter, stopping inside the entrance in awe, checking out the interior and all the stuff placed there for sale. It was the first time that she entered this shop and she understood right away why this one was known as the best weapon shop from Konoha.

More or less each kind of weapon thinkable was displayed around the shop, from simple kunai and swords to unique and strange looking weapons only a specialist could use was there everything. And it was said that they would produce nearly everything the customer asked for with all specifications needed by the customer as well. But due to that was the waiting time for custome made stuff pretty high.

"Aren't you a bit young to be here?" a voice called out toward Hanabi, snapping her out of her shock. She looked around and spotted a girl of around ten years standing behind the counter of the shop. She looked kinda plain, the most noticeable thing about her was her brown hair tied into two bums at her side.

"Says the young girl who seems to be working inside this shop." Hanabi countered, approaching the counter. "Actually I do have business here if you don't mind." she stopped at the counter, looking the other girl into her eyes.

"Hey, I don't mind who buys from us, really. I love weapons myself you know. But you aren't even old enough to be in the Academy and we might get problems if we sell something to someone like you." the girl explained, eyeing Hanabi from top to bottom.

Hanabi pouted at that statement. "I am an Academy student, thank you very much. You shouldn't judge people by their appearences, you know?" she gave the girl an evil glance before continueing. "Beside, I'm not intrested in buying a weapon. Not yet at least. Not sure if I could use one to be honest. I'm here to request a custom made item."

The other girl raised an eyebrow at that statement. "You are an Academy student? But you look so young..." she pondered, thinking about it. "Oooohhhh, okay. You must be Hanabi Hyuga, right?" the girl got a bright smile, still watching Hanabi.

Hanabi sighed and let her head drop. "And you are at the Academy as well and heard all the rumours, right?" she asked, sounding frustrated. "See, no matter what they say, it's not true, okay?"

The girl was slightly confused and a bit sad hearing that. "Oh, okay... so you weren't in the northern forest then... aww, and I would have loved to get my hands on this foreign kunai that they said you found there before being attacked by unknown forces. But I guess it sounded too good to be true..."

Hanabi blinked a few times in surprise before answering. "Uhm, that one is true. But the kunai was taken by Hokage-sama." she lifted her right arm a bit higher, showing the girl the burn scar. "I thought you were referring to the ones saying that my sis is my slave."

The girl was silent for a moment before she started to laugh. "Why would I? That one is totally silly and can't be true. When a rumour appears telling that someone did something amazing and stuff, like you and the event in the northern forest, being acknowledged by the teachers and even getting a mission record for it, is it normal that a rumour is following shortly telling something evil about that person."

"Really? I didn't know..." Hanabi said quietly, smiling slightly. "That's good to know I guess. And here I was afraid that you would treat me badly because of that or something."

"Not at all, don't worry. My name's Tenten by the way. Anyway, you were talking about a custom made object, right? Do you have specifications with you? What kind is it? Materials needed? Shall it have special abitlities build into it with seals?" Tenten got all serious and had a shine in her eyes.

Hanabi could tell that her mentioned love for weapons was more then a just a phrase. She really got into them. "Uhm, well, yeah. I have it right here." she pulled out a piece of paper, placing it on the counter. It was a detailed drawing of the item she wanted to get custom made on which she worked the last days after Academy in her room.

Tenten was checking out the drawing carefully, pondering about it and analyzing the mentioned details and specifications. "Uhm... you sure that the rumour isn't true? You know, never mind. I don't care, really. The base material shouldn't be a problem. Reinforced leather do we use quite often for armor and stuff. The attachments might be a bit difficult though. Plus, as you might know, do we have a high request for custom made items so there will be some waiting time as well."

Hanabi nodded. "But you are able to create it, right? So, how long will it take and what will it cost?" she tilted her head to the side, watching the thinking Tenten.

"Well... considering the orders we currently have will it be around two months to finish it. And for the price..." she wrote a number down on the paper next to the drawing. "This is the price we need to charge for it. This contains the materials, our work and custom fitting afterwards if something needs to be changed."

"That's... pretty expensive..." Hanabi said quietly, checking the number over and over again. "No chance to get it a bit cheaper? The time is fine with me, but that's a bit too high for me to afford..."

Tenten was watching the slightly depressed looking Hanabi for a while, before focusing back on the drawing, thinking it over again. Her eyes darted from one detail to a specification, to the next detail and back again, before she gave Hanabi a smile. "Actually... the design is pretty intresting and cute. If you sell us the plans with the right to use them as we see fit could I make you this price." she wrote down another number below the first.

Hanabi's eyes went wide in disbelief, darting between the number and Tenten. "You are willing to reduce the price that much? And all I have to do is give you my drawing here?" she couldn't belief that Tenten was willing to offer her such a price in exchange for the plan. All she did was to draw something she thought would look good with Hinata.

Tenten was slightly bouncing up and down on her feet, nodding to Hanabi. "Uhu, that's what I said. The design is pretty well made and I'm sure that we can sell it quite good. That's why I'm offering that much for the plans." she spoke calmly, noticing the expression on Hanabi's face change toward a confused one. Before Hanabi could ask however did she already answer. "Yes, I'm allowed to offer you that. So, what do you say? Two months and this price and we get to keep your plan."

Hanabi was still in shock, but nodded slightly. "Yes, okay. I agree on that..." she said blinking her eyes a few times to get herself back to reality. "But why do you think that this will sell?"

Tenten grinned at her. "Just a feeling I have. Alright, we accept your order for your custom made item. Is there anything else we can help you with?" she made a gesture with her arm, pointing around the room at everything on display there. "As you can see do we have the greatest lineup of weapons in the whole fire country."

"No, I already said that I'm not sure if I can even use a weapon. Our clan's fighting style isn't supporting anything like that. But..." Hanabi's eyes fell on some blank papers that were displayed on the counter. "What are these? There must be a reason for you to sell paper?" her curious nature got the better of her.

"These? That's a chakra nature test. You take a piece and channel your chakra in it and it will react to your nature, displaying what kind of chakra you have. They should be used before trying to learn elemental jutsu and some jonin do carry a few of these at all times in case they have a genin they want to test." Tenten explained.

Hanabi listened carefully to her explanation and had a smile entering her face. "I'll take a set of them. These are exactly what I need right now!" she exclaimed cheerfully, getting a smile from Tenten in return.

"Sure thing. You know, I'll give you one set for free. As bonus for your plan." she handed Hanabi a set of the chakra tests over and pointed on her scar. "Planning on doing something to avoid these in the future, huh?" she asked.

Hanabi nodded slightly. "Something like that, yes. We realized how weak we are and that our clan's fighting style is only good on close range. But our clan isn't training in elemental jutsu at all, too proud to do anything else than what is our own." she grabbed her scar, piercing her fingernails slightly into it. "And what is it good for? We might have been burned alive because the ones attacking us used fire style jutsu on medium range..." she sighed.

Tenten gave her a small smile. "Well, I'm glad that you made it back. Good luck with your training. Feel free to drop by if you ever need help with a weapon or something. We will send you a message once we finished your item."

"Thank you, Tenten. I'm sure to come back here. And thanks for the tests." she waved and left the shop, having a grin on her face. These chakra nature tests were at least a small first step in the right direction. Knowing their chakra natures will surely help them in becoming stronger or at least to try to learn some matching jutsu.

A park inside the village

Naruto was bored. A whole week passed and he could do nothing to become stronger. His ideas were all bad or not working and of course was nobody willing to teach him anything. He couldn't even hang out with the girls today because Hanabi said she needed to do some preparations for Hinata's birthday party on which Naruto wondered what she is preparing that early already.

And Hinata was visiting Ino because she promised her to help a bit with the flowers of the Yamanaka flower shop. For some reason did these two seem to be a bit closer then before since the events of the kidnapping, but Hinata didn't want to speak about that. That's why he was sitting on a bench inside this park all by hisself, deep in thought about nothing at all. It was a super lazy day for him and he hated these.

At least did the villagers leave him alone at the moment. They were avoiding him, yes, taking their distances and walking around his bench, but at least weren't they staring at him right now and there were no threats against him as well. That was at least something, but this made this super lazy day not that much better.

He wasn't really aware of his surroundings and didn't realize the ANBU that came in his direction. When the ANBU started speaking did he shoot up in surprise. "All by yourself today? That's making my job harder..."

Naruto turned in the direction the voice came from to look into a familiar cat mask. "Don't scare me like that, Cat-san. And what do you mean with making your job harder?" he gave her a curious look.

"Hokage-sama ordered me to get you three and bring you to him. He wanted to talk to you about something it seems." she replied, thinking for a bit. "Any idea where the girls might be?"

Naruto slightly shrugged his shoulders. "Hinata-chan should be visiting Ino-chan at her parents flower shop as far as I know. But I have no idea about Hanabi-chan. She said she needed to prepare something for Hinata-chan's birthday party. But not what and where."

Cat nodded at these informations. "Okay, I understand. So it will be easy to inform one, but I need to search for the other then. Please head to the Hokage tower and wait there. I'll get the girls and join you as quick as I can." she said before jumping on a nearby roof heading in the direction of the Yamanaka flower shop, leaving Naruto behind.

"Great... I just hope the old man has something intresting he wants to tell us. Even if I'm bored do I have no intrest in wasting my time..." he was grumbling to himself while getting up from the bench and walking towards the Hokage tower.

Yamanaka flower shop

Hinata was currently watering the flowers while Ino leaned at the counter, watching her. "So, have you asked Naruto out already, now that both of you know of each other?" and of course had she to start on her favorite topic.

Hinata simply sighed, knowing by now that talking back to Ino or yelling at her about her choice of topic wasn't working at all. "No, I haven't Ino. I'm hoping that Naruto-kun will do the first step. My birthday is coming up ahead and Hanabi already said that she was planning and preparing a party, so maybe..." she smiled slightly at the thought.

"Oh, you hope that he will give you that one special present. While that is a nice thought... you do know that we are talking about Naruto, right? Do you really think he's smart enough to ask you out on your birthday?" Ino tried to supress the giggle that wanted to escape her lips, knowing that Hinata would get mad at her if she would do it right after saying these words.

Hinata turned away from the flowers to look Ino into her eyes. "Yes, I do think he is. And if he won't have this idea by himself am I sure that Hanabi will push him. I'm pretty sure that this is part of her preparations. That and..." she trailed off her sentence and bit her lip, getting a curious look from Ino.

"That and...? Is something the matter, Hinata-chan?" Ino was slightly confused. What might be strange or disturbing on birthday preparations?

Hinata took a deep breath before answering. "I think that Hanabi is preparing a totally embarassing present for me. When she mentioned her preparation did she mention to prepare presents four times. I do have a bad feeling about that." she was putting her fingers together in front of her, something she hadn't done for quite some time now.

Seeing that gesture made Ino realize that this topic might be a serious one when Hinata was falling slightly back into her old habits. "Ah, common. I don't think that you have to worry about something like that. Hanabi-chan is a nice girl, right?" Ino smiled. "But, why am I not invited?"

That question took Hinata by surprise and she stopped her fingers from moving, thinking for a moment. "Uhm, I don't know. As I said, Hanabi is doing the whole planing. Maybe she wasn't at the point of doing invitations yet? You should ask her about it."

Ino nodded and wanted to answer, but got interrupted by the door opening and an ANBU entering the shop. The ANBU gave a slight nod at Ino before turning towards Hinata. "There you are. I was looking for you."

"Oh, hello Cat-san." Hinata gave her a bright smile. "How may I help you?"

"You are so well-mannered compared to Naruto." Cat chuckled slightly. "I have orders to get you three to the Hokage office. Naruto is already on his way and I would appreciate it, if you would go too and wait there. I still need to search your sister."

Hinata nodded at that. "I understand. I'll go right away." she turned to Ino before continueing. "Sorry, but seems I have things to do."

"Don't worry about it. You were a great help so far. I can take care of the rest by myself." Ino smiled back at Hinata who headed for the door, both realizing that the ANBU already disappeared on her search for Hanabi.

In front of the Hokage tower

Naruto was already waiting when Hinata arrived at the tower. "Hello Naruto-kun." she gave him a smile and a small wave. "Do you know what this is about?"

"Oh, hey Hinata-chan. No, I wasn't told why the old man wants to see us. Maybe it has to do with the scroll we found? Or the seals? Or he wants to pay us for a B-rank?" he had a slight grin on his face while talking. They had informed Hinata about the seals they found inside his apartment and how Hanabi twisted the Hokage's words inside his mouth while getting there.

Thinking about this a bit did Hinata nod after a while. "I guess these things would make sense. But we won't know until we see him. So..." she looked around. "How long do you think we need to wait for Cat-san to find Hanabi?"

"No idea. I'm not even sure where Hanabi might be. All she said was that she wanted to prepare things for your birthday." he shrugged. "While Cat-san might be an ANBU will it most likely need some time for her to find Hanabi-chan."

"Are you preparing something for my birthday as well?" she asked quietly, getting a bit closer to Naruto and leaning on his shoulder slightly. 'I can't believe I'm doing this. Not too long ago would I have fainted for just getting close to him, and now? It even feels right to me.' she thought to herself while making herself comfortable at his side.

Naruto was a bit surprised by Hinata's action, but wasn't flinching and simply let her do. "Not yet, no. But I'm thinking about the one or other thing that might be to your liking. Just wait for the day to come." he smiled at her.

"Okay, I will..." Hinata whispered, closing her eyes and relaxing with her head on Naruto's shoulder.

They stood like that in front of the Hokage tower for around 15 minutes in silence, receiving the one or other stare from villagers passing by. Thankfully did none approach them or said anything at all. Hinata was simply enjoying the feelings she had in this situation and Naruto was keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings just in case.

Hanabi had a wide grin on her face when she approached the tower followed by Cat who shook her head slightly at the scene she was seeing. She had to have a talk with Kakashi later that day. After all, by the look of it, did she won the bet they made. Hinata was openly showing affection toward Naruto way earlier then Kakashi said while making the bet with her.

"Hey you two, snap out of it. You can snuggle and hug with Naruto later, sis." Hanabi said while getting close enough for them to hear her. "I think we are needed inside." still grinning while Naruto gave her a nod and Hinata opened her eyes and blushed did Cat take the lead and brought them to the Hokage office.

They entered after knocking and got greeted by a smile from the Hokage. "Ah, Cat, thank you for getting them here. But you sure took your time. Were there any problems?"

"No problems, Hokage-sama. It's just that the three of them weren't together today and I had to search for Hanabi Hyuga." Cat replied getting a small nod in return.

"I understand. And here was I worried for a moment. Anyway, now that you arrived can we talk about a few things." still smiling was he now addressing the kids.

It was of course Hanabi who spoke up first. "You finally decided to pay us a B-rank for finding the scroll with enemy shinobi involved, right? That's a good thing. I figured I will need more money to get all preparations for Hinata's birthday done." she was grinning when she saw the Hokage shaking his head, remembering their talk about that.

"No, that isn't the reason I called for you. But it has to do with the scroll. We were able to find a way to open the seal that kept it closed." he explained, getting the attention of all gathered.

"Hey, that's great. So, what is it, old man? Is it something super special secret?" Naruto grinned as well, when the Hokage remembered that part of their talk. "Oh, I know. It's either a treasure map or some secret information or a super jutsu. You will pay us now, right?"

Cat was chuckling while the Hokage frowned. "No Naruto, I will not. And it isn't anything like that either, well, kind of at least. In fact is it pretty surprising what is in this scroll." he opened the top drawer of his desk and pulled the scroll out of it, placing it on his desk. All gathered got closer to take a look on it when he opened it to show the contents.

The first one to react was Cat who gave a whistle the moment she saw the contents of the scroll. "Is this what I think it is?" she asked, getting a nod from the Hokage and curious looks from the kids.

"It does seem like that, yes." the Hokage replied. "When we finally found out how to open the scroll and after Tenzo did just that were we all shocked by this content."

All three kids wondered who this Tenzo might be, but focused back on the content of the scroll right again. "Uhm... this does look like instructions on how to fight with a specific weapon." Hinata said, checking the content carefully. "Some basic instructions and moves are explained there. And it seems like some harder ones are there as well."

"Hey, that means that we can keep the scroll and try to learn what is written there, right? You said we could, old man." Naruto said excited, grinning from ear to ear. Hanabi sure knew how to negotiate to get this promise from the Hokage.

"Well, basicly yes. However, this weapon style is real hard to learn and master. I'm not sure if any of you would be able to do so. Beside, you don't own any weapons. Not to mention this specific one." the Hokage said calmly, receiving looks from both Hinata and Naruto.

"You are an evil old man. So you won't give us the scroll unless we have the matching weapon?" Naruto asked, getting a nod from the Hokage. He wanted to yell at the old man but was interrupted when Hanabi spoke up.

"Oh, this won't be a problem." she was grinning from ear to ear, when all inside the room looked at her with confusion written across their faces. "Well, I met a girl today who could help us get a matching weapon, but..." her grin got even wider. "I guess none of you took the time to read the scroll til the end?"

The Hokage shook his head. They really haven't checked the scroll completely, but he wasn't sure what Hanabi wanted to tell them. It was just a scroll with basics and training informations about a fighting style.

"Well..." she placed the scroll back on the table. Nobody had realized that she took the scroll at all to read it completely til the end. "You see..." she opened it til the last written things were visible. "Whoever created this scroll was two things. First: a master of this weapon style. And second..." she pointed at the very end. "Smart enough to seal a weapon at the end of the scroll that people who wanted to learn his style would have a weapon to practice with."

She couldn't help but giggle while watching the four dumbstruck faces looking at her and the scroll. She thought at least it might be four, not being able to see Cat's face. But since she wasn't moving just like the other...

However, Cat was the first to get back to reality. "Well, then let's have a look on the weapon, shall we?" she asked before quickly unsealing the weapon. A smoke screen appeared, covering whatever she just released and they had to wait for it to disappear.

Just some moments later was the smoke gone and they were able to see the weapon. Or at least parts of it? The looks ranged from surprise to confusion. "Really now? You haven't even read what kind of weapon style is explained inside this scroll? Or why are you looking that surprised on this weapon?" Hanabi asked, rolling her eyes in disbelief that neither the Hokage nor Cat had taken a closer look into the scroll.

"Hey, don't look at me. I just saw the contents for the first time, just like you." Cat spoke calmly, shrugging her shoulders. "It's just surprising. This weapon type is kinda rare these days. Nobody really uses it and it shall be hard to master."

Hinata picked up a round wooden element that was around 60 centimeters long and inspected it. "And what exactly is that? It kinda looks like a bo staff or something, just shorter. And there are three of them."

The Hokage was stroking his beard, pondering about the weapon. "It does look like a three-segment-staff to me. However, they are usually connected by a chain or something and can be used as a normal staff or as a flexible weapon with the segments. Not sure why these are seperated."

Taking a look at one side of the segment did Hinata speak up again. "There seems to be a chain inside and it looks like you can stick them together as well. Maybe they are seperated for easier transportation?"

"Yes, that might be possible." the Hokage answered, picking one of the segments up as well. "It even sounds reasonable if I'm taking a closer look. Tenzo?" the moment he finished speaking was an ANBU with a fox mask already standing behind him.

"What is it you need, Hokage-sama?" the ANBU asked, taking a short look around the room at the gathered people. He took in the appearences of the three kids, knowing right away who they were and saving that information. He also got a small nod from Cat as greeting.

"Could I please have your opinion on these staff segments? After we needed you to open the scroll at all do I have suspicions regarding the content. Especially considering the scroll was found inside an outpost ruin from the time of the village founding." he handed the segment over to the ANBU named Tenzo.

Tenzo took it and inspected it carefully, feeling the surface with his fingers, sending small pulses of chakra into it before slowly nodding and giving it back to the Hokage. "I am sure that these staff segments were created using the Wood Style. The quality is high, the wood is durable and there a small signs of chakra in it. With other words, the First Hokage must have created this weapon."

All three kids were speechless by this information. Did they really found a scroll that was created by the First Hokage? The current Hokage nodded to this information, thinking about it. 'I should take the scroll and weapon and keep it safe, but... I promised these kids that they could have it for training and use if there was a fighting style or something in it. Hiruzen Sarutobi, you were too quick in giving this promise.' he thought before sighing.

"Well, I have made a decision. Since I promised it may you three have this scroll and the weapon. However, be careful with it. This type of weapon is hard to use and if you should loose or destroy it will this have consequences. Understood?" his look was a serious one when he said this, giving the kids a shiver before they nodded. "Fine. Now then, I need to get back to my work. All of you are dismissed."

Tenzo and Cat disappeared in an instant and the kids quickly snatched the scroll and staff segments before saying their goodbyes and leaving as well. Sarutobi pulled out his pipe to inhale it deeply before releasing the smoke. "I never thought the scroll to be this valueable. But I do wonder... who might he have created the staff for? Well, I don't think I will ever learn that. So... back to work." he sighed before picking up his paperwork.

Outside the tower were the three kids discussing what to do now. Naruto was holding the three staff segments under his arm and Hinata had the scroll in her hand. "So, what are we doing now?" she asked, looking at Naruto and Hanabi.

"You really have to ask, sis?" Hanabi replied, having a grin on her face. "We are going to search for a free training field and will then figure out who of us will train with the staff. Also, I've something else for us. And we should think about a way to transport the staff more easily as well..." she pondered, watching Naruto holding the segments.

"Yeah, we should. Alright, then let's search for a training field." Naruto exclaimed happily and started walking away but stopped after a few meters realizing that the girls weren't following and got back to them who both had a small smile on their faces. "Wrong direction, right?" he asked sheepishly and got a nod from both which he answered with a grin. "Okay, then please lead the way."

They headed in the direction of the training fields in hope of finding one that was unoccupied.

 _Training field 47. I mean 7. Uhm... 13? Maybe 24?_  
An unoccupied training field (after visiting some occupied ones)  


It took them some time to find a training field that wasn't used right now. It was one of the smaller ones but that was more then enough for their needs right now. They sat down, placing the staff and scroll in front of them, starting to discuss.

"Okay, now we got one weapon and instructions on how to use it and how to train with it. Any idea on how to decide who will get it?" Naruto asked, looking at the girls. "Though I'm not sure if a staff can be really called a weapon..."

"I wouldn't mind if you would use it, Naruto-kun." Hinata said. "We do at least have our clan's fighting style so it would make sense that you get to use the weapon." she gave him a small smile.

"I guess sis is right with that. Beside, we do need our hands to be free to be effective with our style. Another reason why you should take it. Anyway, as I said, I got something else for us." getting intrested looks from the others did Hanabi pull out a small pack with papers and laid it next to the scroll and weapon.

"What are these papers, Hanabi-chan?" Naruto asked, picking up the pack and inspecting it. "They doesn't look like anything special, just like papers..."

"I thought the same at first. But these are chakra nature tests. The place I got them explained to me how to use them and the results and what they mean are listed on the backside of the pack." she explained to the others. "Hand me a paper, Naruto. I'll show you how to use them."

Naruto nodded and took one paper out of the pack, handing it over to Hanabi. "Okay, it's pretty simple I guess. I take it between my fingers and channel some chakra into it..." she explained while holding up the paper for the others to see. Concentrating her chakra for a second and directing it into the paper did it suddenly crumble to dust in her hand.

"Wow. That was cool, believe it!" Naruto exclaimed loudly. "So, what does this mean?" he added this question once he figured that he wasn't understanding what happened.

"Check the backside of the pack, Naruto. I hadn't time to read the possible results yet, so tell me what chakra nature I have." Hanabi said impatiently, looking at Naruto.

"Alright, just a second..." he felt a shiver running up his spine and turned the pack to read the backside. "Let's see... if the result is the paper crumbling to dust... is the chakra an Earth affinity." he read out loud.

Hanabi thought about that information while Hinata snatched the pack out of Naruto's hand. "So my sister is an Earth user, huh? I'll try next. I wonder what my element might be..." Hinata said while getting a paper out of the pack and holding it up just like Hanabi did. She channeled some chakra as well and directed it into the paper and nearly dropped it, when it soaked itself full of water.

She had a small smile on her face. "That surprised me. I can guess what this might mean, but let's be sure..." she turned the pack around and read the backside. "If the paper gets soaked full of water is the chakra a Water affinity. Not surprising. So I'm a Water user, right?" she handed the pack back to Naruto, still smiling slightly.

"So you girls are Earth and Water. I wonder what my chakra nature is. Okay, I'll try it too." he picked a paper and held it the same way the girls did before, channeling his chakra and directing it into the paper. It took just a moment and the paper... did nothing. "Uhm... why is nothing happening?" Naruto asked confused.

"Maybe this one is defect?" Hanabi thought aloud, snatching the paper from Naruto and channeling chakra into it herself just to see the same result she had just moments ago. The paper crumbled to dust in her hand.

"Hmm, it wasn't... maybe you did something wrong, Naruto-kun?" Hinata pondered. "Take another one and try it again. Concentrate on the paper and send your chakra into it. I'll watch if you are doing it right." she activated her Byakugan and focused her eyes on Naruto's hand who was currently picking up another piece of paper.

Naruto did the same as before, channeling some chakra and directing it into the paper again. His concentration was completely on the paper and then it happened . . . . . Nothing. Again. He sighed in frustration.

"From my view did you everything the correct way..." Hinata said quietly, deactivating her Byakugan. "Is there an explanation of this result?"

Naruto looked again on the backside of the pack and shook his head. "No, none. Only five results are listed, for the five elements. Does this mean... I don't have any element? Is my chakra... I don't know... plain?"

Hanabi shook her head. "I don't believe that. Every person's chakra should have at least one element to it. We should ask the old man or Iruka-sensei about it later. Or maybe Spooky or Cat, if we happen to meet them. But I guess it's another good reason why you should take the staff..." she said with slight confusion heard in her voice.

Hinata nodded. "I agree, let's ask someone about it and for now can you train with the weapon. And we will look if we can find some scrolls with training tips for Water and Earth elements for us. I... don't want to end in a situation again in which I'm totally helpless..." she said the last part pretty quiet and Hanabi hugged her sister hearing that.

"None of us want such a situation again, sis. We all will become stronger and help each other. Everything will be good." she said soothingly in Hinata's ear who nodded slightly.

"Yeah, I will become stronger and protect you two, believe it! And I'll start right away." Naruto exclaimed loudly picking up the three staff segments and putting them together.

"Maybe you should start with getting used to one segment first?" Hanabi suggested, but it was already too late. Naruto had finished putting the segments together and split them at the connection points to have them loose and connected by the chain inside, trying to handle the staff that way and hitting his head right away with one of the outer segments. He went down like a rock and wasn't moving.

Both girls were shocked by that and Hanabi hurried to get over to Naruto, checking his head carefully. "Sis, I think one of us should also become a medic." she said while carefully touching the spot Naruto just hit with the staff.

"Might... be better..." Naruto was saying weakly, forcing a small smile on his face. "That hurt a lot... one segment first, right..." he tried to get up but groaned in pain and slumped back down. "My head is spinning..."

"Or the whole staff, but as a staff and not loosely connected." Hanabi giggled at Naruto's beaten form. "But I'm surprised that you haven't knocked yourself out with that."

Hinata was at Naruto's other side by now and was giving him some water to drink. Once finished did she gently take his head in both her hands, stroking the spot he had hit carefully. Naruto was smiling at that treatment before he answered. "I'm strong, you know? I can even take a lot of hits... ask these stupid villagers who chased and beat me up all the time... but I have no style, no skills. I heard what they were talking about me when they held us captive... That's why I need to learn to handle this staff."

"And I'm sure you will, Naruto-kun. I believe in you." Hinata said smiling at him, still stroking his head.

"And you two will master your elements in no time. We will become stronger together." Naruto said, feeling his energy return to his body and finally getting up, creating a small pout on Hinata's face. She wanted to hold him a little longer.

"But let's not overdo it today. We should first set a plan on how to work on our respective task, shouldn't we? And tomorrow starts another week of Academy, so we can ask Iruka-sensei about your chakra nature test. Okay, now then, Naruto, just one segment. Sis, since we don't have clues yet, just go over to the pond there and try picking up the water with your chakra or something. I'll do the same with the dirt here." Hanabi was slightly pumped up as well, finally able to do something. And she kinda enjoyed it seeing the other two following her orders.

Academy, the next morning

The sisters were the first of them to arrive at the Academy and decided to go and wait in their classroom for Naruto. The little training they had the day before wasn't too succesful at all. Hinata was at least able to slightly touch the water with her chakra, creating small waves from the point she was concentrating on. Hanabi however got no reaction from the earth she focused on. They would need to get advice on how to properly train for an element.

On their way to the classroom did they notice that they got quite a lot of looks, some curious, some confused, some pitiful. And the other kids were whispering behind their backs about them, but they couldn't really make out what they were talking.

"Hanabi... what happened? Do you think it's because we hang out with Naruto-kun and they started hating him and us even more now?" Hinata was whispering to her sister. "Or maybe there is another rumour regarding us?" she gulped at that thought. She just couldn't stand rumours.

"I have no idea, sis. But I would like to know what's going on as well. Ino will be able to tell us, I guess. If it's a rumour is she our girl." Hanabi answered. Both of them felt kinda uneasy by all the looks and they hurried toward their classroom.

Once they arrived and entered it did they already hear the voice of Ino calling out to them and with that were all eyes turning on them. "Hanabi-chan, Hinata-chan, you are finally here." she waved at them frantically, beconning them to get to their seats. Seemed like she indeed is informed and want to get some information from them.

"Ino, what's the matter? Did something happen? We were getting lots of looks on our way here..." Hanabi asked her friend, taking her seat. "It was kinda like... I don't know."

"So you didn't hear yet? There is a new rumour around that involves you three again. I don't even know where to start." Ino was talking excitedly and way faster than normal, nearly twisting her own tongue by that. "Okay, see, they say that you got another mission record already. A B-rank this time. And this goes hand in hand with the rumour that you got kidnapped but managed to get free all by yourself after defeating one of the kidnapper."

Hinata and Hanabi both were shocked by these informations. While at least a part of this rumour was indeed the truth, not that they would admit it, were they wondering how this made the round. And they were afraid what might happen if their father would hear that. Taking a look around did they realize that basicly the whole class was watching and listening, intrested in if this rumour was true or not. And one specific person was giving Hanabi hateful glares that promised no good.

"Who is spreading such a thing?" Hinata asked, looking not too happy by this situation and the rumour. "I haven't heard anything of that..." she quietly said, before adding in her mind 'But I was there during the kidnap part...'.

Hanabi was shaking her head. "This is so totally not true. I mean, think about it. While it is true that we got a C-rank record a while ago was this plain luck and we nearly died if it weren't for Spooky who rescued us." there were some noises and confused looks by that name but she ignored them. "And now are you believing a rumour saying that we got kidnapped, rescued ourselfs by beating up one of the kidnappers and got a B-rank record for that? Think about that, Ino."

Ino was silent for a moment, biting her lower lip in thought. "I guess... you are right. Seeing it this way does the rumour indeed sound kinda stupid. And if you are saying it isn't true then it isn't true." she nodded slowly and a majority of the class lost intrest in the conversation, after hearing the rumours were fake. The sisters were reliefed by that, but feared that Naruto might blow the lie once he arrives. And they wondered who might have spread that rumour at all.

They talked a little about this and that now, nothing important at all and just some minutes later was Iruka entering the classroom. The first thing he noted is that Naruto was missing so he addressed the Hyuga girls. "Hanabi, Hinata, can you tell me where Naruto is today? He is missing quite often considering that classes started just a month ago..."

Hanabi was the one to answer. "No Iruka-sensei. We haven't seen him this morning yet. Maybe he is still knocked out from our training yesterday." she shrugged her shoulders while Iruka was raising an eyebrow.

"Knocked out from training? What exactly were you training that would knock him out for so long?" his voice was sceptical and he was watching the girls intensely, figuring they must be up to something or covering Naruto with a lie.

It was this moment that the door opened and Naruto entered, his body covered in bruises and patches. He grinned as usual and was scratching the back of his head. "Sorry for being late, Iruka-sensei, but I had some problems getting here somehow..." not waiting for a reply was he slightly limping to his seat to sit down with basicly every pair of eyes inside the class following him.

"What?" he asked once he took his seat, his voice kinda pissed by all these looks. "Never tried to figure out how to use a new weapon and had problems with that? My mood isn't the best today at all because of at least three reasons, so just leave me alone!"

That was something new for the class. It's the first time they saw Naruto being angry and they averted their eyes to the front, not wanting to push their luck. They figured that if Naruto would go berserk out of anger it might be unpleasant, considering all the things that happened to him when he was younger. There must be lot of anger and fury build up in him.

"Uhm, yeah, right. Well, now that everyone is here can we start class." Iruka exclaimed, gaining the attention of the class. "Our topics today are all important if you want to become a shinobi for Konoha. So better pay attention."

Some time later, at the end of the last class that day

"Okay, that's it for today. You can go home now and I'll see you tomorrow." Iruka closed his class and was packing his stuff as well to leave, but got interrupted by Hanabi who approached him quickly while the rest of the class was leaving. Naruto and Hinata were still sitting at their desks, waiting for Hanabi.

"Iruka-sensei, please wait. We need to talk to you about something." Hanabi spoke up, getting Iruka's attention. "Please, it's important to us."

Iruka nodded and waited for the rest of the class to leave, before he answered. "Okay, what do you need? But if it's about these rumours, there is nothing I can do." he watched his students with curiousity.

Hanabi shook her head. "No, it isn't that. We were doing chakra nature tests yesterday and have two things to ask you now, Iruka-sensei." she explained, getting the full intrest from Iruka.

"Oh, why did you do that? Normally that's something that will be done later. And aren't Hyuga normally not using elemental jutsu? Anyway, what do you want to ask?" he leaned back on his desk, waiting for his students reply.

"Well, we have our reasons..." Hanabi said quietly. "So, we did the tests and I'm an Earth user and my sister is a Water user and we wanted to ask if you might have some scrolls with basic training for us? We really could need some help with that since our family won't help at all..."

Iruka nodded at that. "I guess I can get you some simple ones from our archives, sure. I'll give them to you later that week. And what is the second question?"

Hanabi was silent for a moment and Naruto grumbled from the back of the class. "I don't have one..." It was low voiced and hard to understand, but Iruka heard it quite well.

"You don't have what, Naruto? If you want to ask me something please be more accurate." he gave Naruto a small smile to speak up.

"I said I don't have an element..." Naruto answered louder and pulled a paper out of his pocket, holding it up and channeling his chakra into it, just to get the same result as the day before. "See? Nothing happens. What is the meaning of this, sensei? Shouldn't every person have an affinity?"

Iruka raised an eyebrow at that result. "I'm sorry, but I have no idea. It's the first time I'm hearing about something like that. I will talk to Hokage-sama and hopefully get an answer for you. So please wait some days, okay?" his voice sounded concerned, but he still smiled slightly.

"Yeah, sure. I will be busy training with my new weapon for now anyway." Naruto answered, heading towards the door with a little less limping then before.

"About that... what kind of weapon is it? I don't think you should train with a weapon which you hurt yourself with..." Iruka said concerned just to get a glare from Naruto.

"So you are saying that I, who somehow doesn't even have an affinity in my chakra, shouldn't try to learn the use of a weapon in order to protect my friends? That I should simply give up the next time someone is going to kidnap us? That I should simply watch while these two" he was pointing towards Hanabi and Hinata "my best friends get adbucted and sold as slaves?" he was raging, nearly killing Iruka with his glare if that were possible for him.

Hinata covered her mouth with her hands, hearing the words Naruto said. She realized that Naruto just did what they were fearing, he spilled the information of the kidnapping. Out of rage and unintentionally, be he did it. Hanabi realized that as well and let her head hang in defeat. At least was it just Iruka who might keep silent about that.

"So the rumours really have a true part to it, huh?" Iruka asked, watching the three kids with concern in his eyes. "You should really try to stay away from trouble... Well, I will get you two your training scrolls and for you an answer, Naruto. See you all tomorrow." giving them another small smile did Iruka leave the classroom.

After a few minutes of silence did they finally decide to leave as well, not talking on their way out of the building. Once outside did Naruto kick the ground frustrated, cursing the moment he did due to the additional pain we was feeling right away.

Hanabi giggled at that before giving him a smile. "Hey, you are free now, right? Why don't you go pick up the staff and meet us in the market district? I think I know someone who might help with a way to transport the staff easily and may be able to give you some training advices."

"That's fine with me. Give me 15 minutes and I'll meet you there." Naruto answered before heading towards his apartment to pick up the staff segments while the girls went ahead to the weapon shop Tenten was working at.

Weapon shop

The girls were waiting in front of the shop for Naruto who arrived shortly after them. They entered all together and both Hinata and Naruto were shocked by the amount of weapons on display. They didn't see the girl with brown hair in two buns at her sides standing behind the counter, giving them a smile when she realized Hanabi inside the group.

While the two of them were still stunned did Hanabi walk toward the counter to speak to Tenten. "Hello Tenten. I wasn't expecting to be here again already, but we have some business." she smiled. "Well, at least once they are not stunned anymore."

Tenten nodded and smiled back to her. "No problem, they can take their time. But..." she got closer to Hanabi to whisper to her. "The item you ordered... is it for her? I can somehow imagine the designs you created suiting her quite nice."

Hanabi was blushing slightly, averting her eyes. She clearly didn't want to answer that question and Tenten gave her a warm smile. "It's okay. I figured as much already. And as I said, I don't mind at all. So, what can I help you with today?" she said the last part louder, trying to catch the attention of the other two.

Hinata was still stunned by all the weapons and stuff on display, walking aimless through the shop and checking out all the things. Naruto however did hear the girl talking and got back to reality, heading toward the counter. "Hey, you see, I got this weapon here and I need something to properly store and transport it. You think you can help us out?" he asked the girl while placing the three segments of his staff on the counter.

Tenten's eyes went wide seeing the weapon and snatched one segment in an instant, carefully checking it out. "Wow! A three segment fighting staff prototype with detachable segments for easier handling. And the quality is absolutely high class. Only the best woodworkers might be able to produce something like that. It's even chakra enchanced for higher durability and could easily block the sharpest swords. Where did you get it?"

There was a sparkling in Tenten's eyes that made Naruto gulp and Hanabi suddenly felt uneasy by it. Naruto was fishing for words before he finally managed to answer. "The old man gave it to us and I'm trying to train with it. But it's not that easy..." he said, giving her a big grin. "As you can see I might have hit myself a few times with it..."

Tenten managed to get her eyes away from the weapon to get a look on Naruto and just now realized all the injuries all over his body. "Well, yeah, this weapon is hard to learn. Anyway, you needed something for transport, right? Since it has detachable segments do you have four options. Three if you aren't good with seals."

Naruto shook his head by that last statement and Tenten nodded before she continued. "Alright, three options. Either a strap around your upper leg where you can slip the segments into, a belt able to hold them the same way or you can strap them to your back. It's basicly up to the users preferences and how he feels most comfortable to move around and to draw the weapon."

Naruto was silent after that, thinking about his options and wondering about the knowledge of this girl. Hanabi saw that and spoke up. "Say, Tenten, would you mind if we could get all three of these things that he can try them out? We would return the two of them we won't use later and only pay for the third. Think you could do that?"

Tenten was pondering about it for a moment before nodding. "Yes, I guess. But you need to decide within two days or you'll have to pay for all of them. Oh, by the way Hanabi, I need to ask you to pay half of your purchase in advance that we can cover the costs for the materials. Wanted to contact you about it these days, but since you are here..." she smiled slightly at Hanabi.

"Ah, sure, I figured that much. Here you go." Hanabi handed Tenten some money and Naruto's eyes went wide seeing the amount of it. "And thanks for helping with the weapon."

"It's okay, really. Such a fine weapon deserves good treatment. If you value your weapon will it always be good to you as well. And don't you dare laughing. Weapons do have something similiar to a soul." she smiled brightly. "Anything else you need?" she asked, after getting the holders for the staff and handing them to Naruto.

Hanabi shook her head. "I think we are fine for now. I'll stay in contact for the item." giving Tenten a wave did Hanabi turn to leave, but stopped to talk to Naruto. "Can you catch my sister? I'm afraid she might get lost in here if we don't pick her up." she giggled while Naruto went over to get Hinata who still was walking and watching around the shop aimlessly.

Once outside did Naruto address Hanabi. "What have you ordered there? The amount of money you just gave her is insane. And that's only have of the price?" That also got the intrest from Hinata, who came a bit closer.

"Oh, I'm intrested as well. Did you buy a weapon here? But wasn't it you saying that a weapon would ruin our fighting style?" Hinata asked smiling at her sister.

Hanabi had an evil smirk on her face while answering. "Ah, nothing at all. I mean, it's really nothing worth mentioning. And it will take several months before they will be even able to create it with all these orders they are having. Really, don't mention it."

Hinata saw that evil smirk a few times by now and knew that she shouldn't push the matter. Naruto on the other side... "Aw, common, you ordered nothing for that huge amount of money? That's hard to believe. Why don't you tell us?" he pushed the matter.

Hanabi sighed. "I said don't mention it. Do! You! Understand!?" she hissed the last part but with a voice that send a shiver down Naruto's spine who simply nodded. "See, wasn't that hard. Back to training I guess?" she grinned from ear to ear as if nothing just happened.

The other two were nodding and followed her toward the training ground they used the day before. All of them were determined to become stronger. And all of them knew it would be a hard way. The girls were hoping that Iruka will have some training scrolls for them the next days and Naruto simply hoped to hurt himself less with the staff. And then to somehow learn the first easy steps and moves from the scroll he had for it. They had a long way to go...

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 _ **Authors Note (the real one):**_ Alright, that was the newest chapter from me. I think I covered most stuff I wanted in order to make a small timejump for the next chapter to get to Hinata's birthday. And some of my cliffhangers will be again explained then (and some new will be added, as usual). No good story without cliffhangers - but I'm aware that I'm using them quite frequently. Am still sorry about that, but hey, I'll pick them up and explain sometime later, as usual. Next chapter, or in two months, or way later - but I will!

I know, it was a quieter chapter but you need some of these from time to time as well in order to advance. Beside... *giggles*  
Okay, honestly, you should have had at least one "what the hell" moment in this chapter. Right? I'm pretty sure that I got you at least once.  
Two or three "what the hell" moments might be possible as well. In that case is my twisted mind still too much for you to understand. Don't worry, that's normal with me. Plus: it's more fun for you to read if you can't anticipate what I'm writing, right? *smiles*

As usual, I'm always up and thankful for your opinions or ideas so feel free to gimme a call (aka leave a review or write a PM).  
Well, now to think about Hinata's party. I hadn't have much free thinking capacities this week because of work so I hope that my brain will come up with a good location and activities this weekend that I can easily start writing the next chapter.


	12. Chapter 11 - Hinata's Birthday is close

_**Authors Note:**_ Okay, yeah, I said it would be Hinata's birthday chapter, but... I had to postpone that one for another chapter for reasons. Happens I guess. I don't like that I'm unable to keep in pace with my own plan, but well... Work was busy this week, my writing slowed down - making this chapter shorter than my average.

So, what do we have here? A three month timejump from the last chapter. Her birthday is close and they are training like crazy. What else? Uhm... guess you have to read to find out ;-)

Okay, small teaser: a bit time for Hanabi/Tenten and Hanabi/Ino, a bit time for Hinata/Naruto and a bit time for two special guests (kinda).  
And those cliffhangers again... though I guess you are used to them by now, right?  
That's all I gonna hint. Hope the chapter will be enjoyable to you again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters – Chapter 11: Hinata's Birthday ... is close**

"Water Style: Bubbles." Hinata said, concentrating her chakra on the small pond and creating a few dozen water bubbles with it's content. It wasn't an offensive jutsu and it basicly wasn't a defensive jutsu either. It was simply an academy level jutsu helping the student to get an idea on how to manipulate water with their chakra.

Three months had past since they learned of their chakra elements and Hinata made the most progress with the help of the scrolls she got from Iruka. With her chakra control on a high level was she able to create quite an amount of bubbles at once and was able to hold them in the air around her.

While this jutsu basicly was useless for everything did the kids however find a use for it after all. Naruto grinned and pulled his three staff segments out of the holder on his right upper leg and attached them together. He trained with this staff every day since he got it and while he still had some problems with it did he made progress. He was hitting himself only at around every tenth attack now, not like in the beginning with nearly every attack.

Even the Hokage couldn't tell him why the chakra nature test wasn't reacting on his chakra leaving him without an element. But that was even more reason to train with the staff on a daily basis. He entered his fighting stance, holding the staff with his right hand at his side with it partially being behind him. The scroll explained that the basis stance for this weapon was basicly similiar to a normal bo staff stance because it was a staff as well.

He got ready for his attack and then charged towards the bubbles Hinata created, hitting three of them with his first blow of the staff from right to left. They decided to use the bubbles for target practice which was a nice idea. They were variable, had a small feedback on an attack and you could clearly tell if you missed them.

While still within the movement of the first blow did Naruto loosen the last segment of the staff that was still following the movement and by that did it hit another of the bubbles before he pulled it back on it's chain reattaching it. His next move was a step forward and he aimed on another bubble with the tip of the staff but missed. He clearly had to work on his aiming when using the tip.

Making a step backwards did he loosen the last segment again, holding the staff in front of him with the loose segment on his side, starting to make rotating movements with his hands to get the segment swinging like a morning star. With that did he charge again into the bubbles, hitting a few of them with the loose segment before backstepping again.

This movement however worked not too good and he hit his ankle with the still swinging segment, making a sound full of pain before reattaching the segment again. Cursing to himself did he look at the amount of bubbles still in the air and decided to try what he was working at for the last two weeks.

He loosened all segments from each other, holding the staff by both outer segments and charging at the bubbles again. "Don't Naruto-kun! You will only knock yourself out again!" a worried Hinata shouted at him who was watching his practice, but it was too late.

Naruto reached the bubbles and entered a rotating/spinning movement with his body, holding the staff only at one outer segment with the other two entering the same spinning movement. If performed in a good way might this be a good method to hit multiple targets around the performer, but...

The staff hit a few bubbles before Naruto lost a bit speed which was enough to destroy the balance between his body and the staff resulting in the last segment first hitting him into the back from which he fell to the ground before the still moving staff hit the side of his head, knocking him out cold.

Hinata was at his side in an instant, loosing concentration on her bubbles who slightly exploded and fell to the ground. She picked his head up and placed it in her lap, gently stroking it. "How many times did I say that this move is too advanced for you right now?" she asked quietly.

Hanabi was sitting slightly away from the other two, concentrating on her own manipulation of the earth. Her progress wasn't too good during the last three months and she barely managed to move small stones around on the ground so far. If she tried to raise a small wall from the earth was it always crumbling right away.

She was frustrated by her slow progress, especially when she thought about how she was praised as a great talent and even entered Academy two years early. She figured that the reason must be that she never used her elemental chakra so far. The shouts from her sister reached her while she was trying again to create a small earth wall which crumbled right away when she got distracted by the shouts.

Sighing in frustration did she look towards the other two, seeing that Naruto knocked himself out again with her sister sitting at his side and caressing his head. That was a picture she saw a few times already during the last two weeks. However, during the last three months was the most common picture Hinata applying bandages on Naruto's bruises.

Deciding that she wasn't making anymore progress for the day did she walk over towards the others, addressing her sister. "Hey sis, I'm finishing for today. I need to do some last preparations for your party and will again search for Spooky. He used an Earth Wall to protect us the very first time and I so need some helping tips from him. Anyway, don't get too comfortable with Naruto, understood?" the last sentence was spoken with a rather strictly voice she was working at for some time now so that her sister would know when she was being serious and giving her an order instead of an advice.

Hinata nodded at that, still gently stroking Naruto's head. "I understand, Hanabi. I will hold him only til he wakes up and let go of him then. Good luck with your search and the preparations." she gave her sister a warm smile who nodded in return before leaving the training field.

Once her sister was gone did she look up into the sky, watching the clouds. "I do wonder..." she spoke quietly to herself. "Is she afraid that we would do something we shouldn't do? Or is she jealous of us? Or are they both planning something for my birthday?" closing her eyes did she let out a sigh. "Well, I'll have to wait. My mistresses orders are clear and I will follow them..."

She wasn't worried at all that Naruto might wake up and hear her talking to herself. The last two weeks have shown that if Naruto knocked himself out with that move was he gone for at least 15 minutes. But she knew that she needed to be careful that their secret wouldn't be found out by others. At least were there no rumours about that lately. However, the one about the kidnapping and B-rank record was sticking around like pest and they still didn't knew why...

Konoha village, a street leading to another leading to a location

Hanabi had two locations she wanted to visit today. The first was the weapon shop Tenten worked at. While she said it would take around two months to finish the custom made item did Hanabi recieve a note from her around that time, informing that it would take another month to finish the order. Hanabi was glad that she ordered it pretty early so that it would still be ready for her sisters birthday.

The second location was a small storage room near the Yamanaka flower shop. While she was searching for a location for the birthday party where all guests would be welcomed did Ino offer to use her families storage room. During this time of year was it always empty and it was big enough for the amount of people invited. Ino's parents agreed on it quickly as well and since it was just one week til the party were the preparations already ongoing.

While she was walking through the city did she try to recall what she was doing wrong with her training. Whenever she tried to create a small earthern wall with her chakra did it crumble right away. Was she using not enough chakra that the earth wouldn't get enough structure to stick together? Or was she using too much chakra, destryoing her own wall the moment she created it? She had to talk with someone knowledgeable about that and the only person she knew was Spooky. But he was hard to find.

Still in thought did she reach her first destination, entering the weapon shop without paying much attention. "Thanks for the stuff. See you around." another customer said before leaving the shop, dodging Hanabi who wasn't paying much attention. "Better watch where you are going, little one."

Hanabi was about to mumble an appology when the words she just heard finally reached her brain and she shot to attention in an instant, turning around to see who was just talking to her but couldn't find anyone. Tenten watched the scene a bit confused and was about to say something when Hanabi approached her and spoke first. "Who was this customer? What did he buy? What's his name?"

Tenten blinked her eyes a few times totally confused by these questions before she regained her senses and could answer. "I don't know. He is buying some standard supplies for a while now but not regulary." she shrugged. "Why are you intrested anyway? I guess you came here for something different then to ask about our customers." Tenten smiled gently at Hanabi who looked a bit dumbstrucked.

"It's... just the way he just called me. It reminded me on someone I haven't seen in quite some time..." she answered, a small sense of sadness in her voice. "But you are right. I got the message that the item is finally finished, right? Can I see it?"

Tenten smiled even brighter now and took a box from under the counter and placed it atop of it. Looking around carefully to be sure that noone else was inside the shop did she open it to show the content to Hanabi. While she personally didn't mind the item was she well aware that others might look sceptical at it or would make some comments or something and she wanted to avoid that.

Hanabi's eyes went wide the moment she saw the finished product. "Wow! It's even more beautiful then I expected." her first reaction put a big grin on Tenten's face. Hanabi picked it up carefully, tracing her fingers over the item. "It even feels good when touching it. And the quality is great. I'm so glad I asked here to get it created."

"We worked based on your design and specifications. The owner created the attachments in his forge while I've done the work with the leather. That's what I mostly do when working here anyway. But this item was something special, I could feel it. I gave it my all." Tenten explained, still smiling.

"Thank you so much, Tenten. It's even better then I expected. This will make a great present for my sister." Hanabi said, not really paying attention on what she said. She was so deep in awe that her mind was basicly shut down and her mouth was speaking by itself.

Tenten glanced around the shop again, confirming that there was still nobody around, before she looked back at Hanabi. "Really, I'm glad that it is to your liking. But..." she got a bit closer to the younger girl before whispering. "I guess you should be more careful on what you say. I still don't mind at all, but what if someone might have heard you?"

Hanabi wasn't sure what Tenten meant with her words, before her head finally made it's way back into reality, giving her the informations she was missing right now. Her face got crimson red and she quickly placed the item back in the box and closed it, having an embarassed smile on her face.

"Uhm... you are right..." she said quietly. "I got carried away just now. Still, it is great work and I'm glad it got finished in time for her birthday." she pulled her purse out of her pocket and handed Tenten the second half of the agreed price.

"I would totally love to see her reaction once she opens the box. It's always intresting to see how the recipent of my work reacts to it. Well, I guess you will tell me, right?" Tenten took the money and stored it away while talking. "And don't hesitate to come back here if you need some meassurement corrections. Or if you need anything else. I'm glad to help out." she had a grin on her face once she was finished talking.

Hanabi could feel a shiver wandering down her spine. "I think I understand why you don't mind at all..." her voice was super quiet and she gulped. "If I'm in need of something will I come back for sure." she gave Tenten a weak smile and snatched the box from the counter. "Well, see you around. I need to check some things on the party location." giving a quick wave to Tenten was Hanabi gone in an instant, leaving the grinning Tenten behind.

"It's quite fun teasing girls younger than me." Tenten giggled to herself. "Anyway, these two sisters are quite intresting. But to think that the younger one would be brave enough to order a custom made item like that and then saying it's a present for her sister..." she shook her head. "I really wonder if all rumours about them are true in the end. Ah, whatever. Back to work I guess." she stretched herself and walked into the back room, to work on another custom made leather item for another customer.

Konoha village, another street leading to a location

Hanabi was holding the box pressed tightly to her body and walking down the street, aiming for the storeroom in which the party shall be held. She was breathing a bit faster then usual and her mind was running crazy.

'I can't believe that I blurted it out just like that. Luckily was only Tenten around and she kinda knows anyway since she made the item for me. But still... and this grin. She's kinda scary sometimes when the topic strikes her interests. She became the same way when we visited her with Naruto's staff... does this mean she is intrested in slaves as well? I wonder...'

She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't realized that she was followed. The boy with red face markings was grinning to himself, showing of his fanglike canines, seeing an opportunity to finally get his revenge on Hanabi. He was aware that there were civilians on the street as well, but he figured that the street was empty enough for him to attack her without having any civilian in the way. And nobody would stop him either. They were both just kids and both in the Academy, so it would be kinda normal if they got at each others throat.

He was following Hanabi silently, waiting for the perfect time to rush at her and to hit her hard with a surprise attack. He endured many hard training sessions with his mother and his sister and today was the day. Finally seeing the opening he needed for an attack did he start his dash towards Hanabi, ready to hit her with full force on the back of her head. Shinobi do fight dirty, these were the words of his mother and he had no problem with fighting dirty himself.

Only a few meters more and he would reach her and his grin got bigger. Hanabi was still deep in her thoughts and hadn't realized him yet. Such an easy target, but he didn't mind. That was enough for his revenge. The distance shrank. Just five meters. Three. One... he felt satisfaction building inside his body when he crashed into his target with his elbow first, landing a clean hit. This was it, his revenge. He finally achieved it, over three months after this little girl humilated him in front of the whole class.

"Aaaawwwwrrrrgggghhhh... Can't you watch where you are going, boy?" a male voice said from the ground below Kiba, holding his stomach in pain with signs of pain even showing on his face. "What are you thinking, running around like that with your elbow in front of you?" he gritted his teeth, the pain increasing from second to second.

"What? Why? ..." Kiba stuttered, watching in disbelief at the man lying below him. "Where did you come from? The street was empty..." he gulped, starting to slightly panic.

All this commonition in close distance to her got Hanabi out of her thoughts and she turned around to see what the source of it was, seeing Kiba sitting atop of a blonde man who clearly was in pain. "Dogboy? What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy or something?" she took the few steps towards the two and knelt down next to them and placed the box she was holding on the ground, giving Kiba a slap across his cheek before she focused on the man.

However, she was unable to speak the moment she looked the man into his face, her eyes widening in disbelief. Kiba tried to use this confusion to quickly get away from the scene and disappeared around the corner of the next crossing street just to run into an ANBU who watched the whole scene. "Damned..." he cursed to himself before being taken away by the ANBU. That would result in more than just a scolding for him.

"Is that you, C?" she was finally able to ask with a whisper, her eyes still glued to the man below her. Three months had passed since that fateful event and since Kakashi let C go without incident. And now, in front of her, was a man that look like the same person from back then, just without the full body suit and instead plain everyday clothes.

The man slowly sat up, clearly still in pain from the hit he received, pondering Hanabi carefully. "What are you talking about? What do you mean with C? I don't think I ever met you." he got up from the ground and cleared his clothes from the dirt, still watching Hanabi.

Now that she got a better look did she realize that it wasn't C. The face and hair looked similiar, but the person was a bit shorter. Hanabi shook her head to clear it, before answering. "I'm sorry. I mistook you for someone else I know. You kinda look alike and I was just surprised cause I haven't seen this person for some time now. Are you okay?"

The man gave her a warm smile. "Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry about it. Anyway, be careful, will you? I'm already late, so I need to hurry. Have a nice day, girl." the man waved to her and hurried away while Hanabi picked up the box and resumed her way.

'Am I getting paranoid? That's the second time today I thought I met C... What is the meaning of this? Argh... it's frustrating. My progress is slow and now that... pull yourself together, Hanabi.' her thoughts again went wild while she made her way towards the storeroom the party will be held in.

The blonde man entered a dark alley of the village and made sure that there was nobody nearby, before making a single handsign and canceling his transformation. After the smoke cleared was there a person wearing a full body suit covering everything except for the eyes standing inside the alley. "Well girly, that was an intresting reaction. Seems like our suspicions were right and C really still lives... I need to inform her about that." the person spoke to himself.

"I don't think so..." another voice cut into the dark, clearly male but pretty high. "She won't learn about any of your information and you won't leave this village." The figure was watching around the alley slightly panicked, searching for the source of the voice but unable to see it. Before the figure was able to reply anything or even move got it hit multiple times. A loud scream echoed through the village before it was silenced and the figure fell dead to the ground...

Ichiraku Ramen (slightly earlier)  


Naruto and Hinata were currently sitting at Ichiraku's eating ramen after Naruto woke up from his own knockout. Well, it was more like Naruto eating and Hinata yelling at him. "How many times do I need to tell you that you shouldn't try the advanced moves from the end of the scroll when you are still practicing on working with all three segments loosend, Naruto-kun? It's impressive that you are already really good with the staff itself and even with one loosend segment, but you should work on improving in order and not jump to the end right away!"

Naruto gave her a smile and paused his eating for a moment. "But I'm trying that for you and Hanabi-chan, Hinata-chan. I want to protect you two and for that do I need to learn the super effective and advanced special moves! You think I can defend you when all I can do with the staff is poking the enemy?"

Hinata rolled her eyes at that comment. "And how effective do you think is defending us when you are knocked out on the ground again because you tried to use a move that is way too hard for you to use?" Naruto gave her a cheeky grin as answer which hadn't the effect he hoped for. It would have worked on Hinata's old self, though...

"Water Style: Bubbles!" Hinata said quietly after going through a short set of handsigns, forming one single bubble not of water but the broth Teuchi used for his ramen. And this single bubble was floating in Naruto's direction. "You are forbidden from practicing moves that are too advanced for you right now. Do you understand, Naruto-kun?" she hissed the last part through closed lips, sending a shiver down Naruto's spine.

His mind was racing to find an answer which would be acceptable for Hinata, but it wasn't quick enough to come up with one. Hinata realizing his lack of reply shook her head slightly. "No answer is a wrong answer..." she said quietly and let the bubble drop after it was floating right above Naruto.

Naruto flinched in pain and bit his lip, suppressing the shout that wanted to get out of him. After a few moments did he calm down and slightly nodded. "Okay Hinata-chan, I promise not to try the advanced ones anymore as long as I don't become better with the basics..." he sighed in defeat and watched the smiling Hinata.

"See, that wasn't too hard, right?" she was back to her kind nature right away and brightly smiling before finally starting to eat her ramen. "Teuchi-san, it's delicious as always. Would you mind making us another one?" she asked the shop owner who looked at her with a mixture of curiosity and confusion.

"Sure can do. But, uhm..." his eyes wandered from Hinata to the drenched Naruto and back before he turned around to prepare the next portions.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll be paying for everything I used." Hinata was still smiling and continued to eat her bowl of ramen. "But if you don't mind, Teuchi-san, could you give Naruto a towel? He does look a little... how shall I put it..." she put her finger on her lower lip in a thinking pose. "Drenched from all the training we did today."

Naruto gulped at Hinata's statement. 'It's amazing how much she changed from her shy nature. I still like her, no matter what, but I guess it would be easier to handle her old self.' Naruto thought to himself. After Teuchi placed the new bowls of ramen in front of the kids did he grab a towel and handed it to Naruto who wiped himself clean with it.

"So..." he gave Hinata a small smile, trying to change the topic. "Just one week left til your birthday. Did Hanabi-chan finally tell you what she is planning?" he watched her carefully, hoping that she wouldn't go mad again.

Hinata shook her head. "No, she didn't. She said a good girl has to wait patiently for the things to come. I don't know where the party will be held, who is invited, what will be done for entertainment, I know nothing." she shrugged her shoulders. "But I guess you know, right? After all were you two together quite often the last weeks."

"Nah, I don't know either. Hanabi-chan said I'm too close to you and I would spill the surprise if she would give me informations on these things." he was pouting slightly which looked kinda cute on him. "The times we were together did she help me finding and deciding on a present for you." he had a wide grin on his face now, the attack with the broth forgotten already. "And I'm sure you will like it, Hinata-chan."

"Well, I am curious on what you guys came up with." Hinate smiled at Naruto. "I hope the party will be great too. It's my first one outside the clan I'm having with my friends." she finished her second bowl of ramen and stretched herself.

"I'm totally looking forward to it. Parties and gatherings with friends are just the greatest, believe it!" Naruto became all excited just thinking about the party. "So, what do we now? A bit more training?" he asked causually but flinched right away by the angry look he got from Hinata. "Alright, got it. Let's just go at the park and hang out and relax a bit. Is that okay?"

"That does sound like a good way to end the day. Let's go, Naruto-kun." Hinata exclaimed happily, handing Teuchi the money for the meals before leaving his stand together with Naruto.

Once outside the stand did they start walking towards the nearest park when Hinata spotted a familiar mask walking down the streets. "Oh, isn't that...?" she pondered for a moment before shouting out. "Hello Spooky. Please wait just a moment!"

Kakashi sighed and stopped, waiting for Hinata and Naruto to apporach him. "Can you please stop using that name? It's... irritating. Anyway, what can I do for you, Hinata?" he asked the girl, giving her a smile.

"Well... not much for me. You see, Hanabi is searching for you for some days now. She wants to ask you for tips on using the Earth Style: Earth Wall jutsu. It's always crumbling if she tries to use it." Hinata explained to Kakashi who nodded slightly.

"I see. I guess I might be able to help her, yes. I'll contact her soon if that's okay?" Hinata nodded and Kakashi wanted to say more but got interrupted by a scream echoing through the village. "Sorry kids, but I need to check that. Don't worry about it. Have a nice day." he gave them a small wave and was gone in an instant.

"Maybe we should head for your apartment and not the park, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked quietly and got a simple nod from Naruto as answer. They changed directions and headed for his apartment instead.

Yamanaka storehouse room

Hanabi reached her destination without any more problems and entered it, watching it over and how far the preparations were already finished. In the middle was a table surrounded by chairs on which they were able to eat and also play some games. On one side of the room was a table on which they could place all the present and on the back wall of the room were tables lines up on which they would place the food.

The walls were slightly decorated with party stuff to make the room a bit more welcoming. Ino was helping her so far with the decoration and they were able to get Teuchi Ichiraku to supply them with food on Hinata's birthday. Naruto got all excited when he heard these news. Though, Teuchi said he would prepare more then just ramen and also provide some other things.

So far was everything going smoothly and the preparations should be done right on time for the party. The invitations were also handed out to all their friends and til now does it seem like all of them would come. However, there was one flaw in her planing. She had absolutely no idea how to entertain the guests.

Hanabi gave a frustrated sigh thinking about the way of entertainment. That was her third failure today and the day couldn't get any more worse as it already was. She placed the box on one of the tables and started to work a bit more on the decorations inside the room and was so focused on her work that she didn't heard that someone else entered the room.

She was totally surprised and nearly fell from a chair she was standing on to attach some garlands on the wall when Ino called out to her. "Hey Hanabi-chan, busy as always, huh? How was your training today?" Hanabi turned towards Ino and gave her a weak smile who herself took a chair and started putting balloons on another wall.

"Still the same weak results as usual. For some reason will my walls not hold themselfs together and I really don't know why. I guess I'm using too much or not enough chakra, but even if I vary the amount is it still the same result. It's frustrating..." she sighed again. "I wanted to ask Spooky for some advice because I know that he is capable of using the Earth Wall jutsu, but I just can't find him."

"Why don't you go and ask the old man about it?" Ino suggested. She, like the sisters as well, started calling the Hokage old man just like Naruto did. Nicknames are just so convenient to use. "As far as I know is he also an earth user and even if he couldn't help you could he maybe tell where you might find Spooky?"

Both girls were busy with the decorations while they talked. "But I'm not Naruto... I can't just charge into his office and ask him. It's just frustrating all together." Hanabi shrugged on her own words. "And what about you? Still not intrested in elemental jutsu? I mean, your clan stuff is nice and these things, but some varity never hurts."

"Nah, that's what I will have my teammates for. That's the whole reason to create teams in the first place, you know?" Ino giggled at Hanabi and the fact that she was explaining something basic to her friend.

If Ino would look at Hanabi right now would she have seen the sadend and hurt face from Hanabi, but she was too busy with the decorations. "And what if you are seperated from your team? If you are all alone and attacked by someone you can't handle with your clan skills?"

Ino stopped in her work, biting her lower lip and thinking about Hanabi's words. That was a good question, what would she do in such a situation? Hanabi added more for her to think about. "You know, when we were nearly burned, even if we were able to fight at all... all three of us would have been close combat fighters. That still wouldn't work against medium ranged fire users..."

Ino finally turned around to watch at Hanabi, now seeing her hurt expression. She could tell that Hanabi had even more things on her mind and bothering her then the bit she was speaking about right now. Ino bit her lower lip even stronger, drawing some blood by that action before speaking. "The kidnapping rumour... the one that still sticks around... it is true, isn't it?" she asked quietly.

Hanabi nodded slightly at that question, unable to hide the truth anymore right now. Plus she trusted Ino, beside of her gossiping nature. "Yeah... at least partially. Spooky saved us, again. We were totally helpless back then..." she sat down on a chair at the main table, hiding her face in her hands and started crying. It was the first time since the events three months ago that she spoke about it and her pent up emotions finally had a way to get released.

Ino joined Hanabi and hugged her tightly, simply holding and comforting her. She figured that words wouldn't have any use right now and just wanted to be there for her friend. Even if she wanted, she wouldn't know what to say to her. She had no idea how Hanabi might feel. Or Hinata. Or Naruto. She just understood why they were trying so hard to improve.

It took some time for Hanabi to calm down a little and her voice was weak when she spoke, still sobbing. "Thanks Ino... I... guess I needed that... I finally needed to get this off from my chest..." she tried to put a faint smile on her face, but failed.

"It's okay, Hanabi-chan. That's what a friend is for, right? I'll help and support you three however I'm able to. That's a promise between friends." Ino gave her friend a reassuring smile and Hanabi nodded. They sat there for a few more minutes before Hanabi gave Ino a hug and both went back to their work on decorating the room.

An alley in Konoha

Three ANBU were standing around a corpse in the back alley when Kakashi arrived at the scene. Beside of having heard the scream that echoed through the village did he also got the official request from the ANBU directly to assist them in the investigation. He was curious what this all was about so he approached the group.

"Hey Cat." he greeted the leader, giving a nod towards the other two. "I'm here like requested, so what's the situation and what kind of help do you need?" all information he had so far were that they found a corpse and were investigating it and the facts around this kill. He didn't knew if it was a shinobi or civilian or any details about it.

"Ah, glad you could make it, Spooky." Cat replied calmly, getting a small twitch of Kakashi's eyebrow as response. He hated the fact that the nickname he got by Hanabi made the round more and more and that the people, mainly shinobi and his close friends, started using that new one to tease him.

"I guess it's pretty simple or totally complicated, depending on how you look on the situation. We have a corpse here. Based on your reports a member of this mysterious organization, meaning it's a shinobi. The easiest explanation would be that he got found by one of us and took care of. However, we haven't received any reports of this and the wounds didn't match to our normal methods, so..."

Cat explained the situation detailed to Kakashi who nodded his head slightly, processing all the informations. "So you need me for a few tasks then. First I shall confirm the identity of him being of this organization for real. Second I shall try to identify the way he died and third you need me to track down the person who killed this shinobi. Does this sum it up?" he asked, getting a confirming nod from Cat in return.

"Alright, got it. Well, then let's have a look here..." he approached the corpse and knelt down, giving him a quick lookover first. "I hereby confirm that this person must be a member of this organization. He is wearing the same full body suit I encountered two times already which seems to be the common identification of their members." after speaking did he look a bit closer on the wounds the person suffered, raising his eyebrow. "Can I get a bit more light here, please?"

One of the ANBU nodded and went through a short set of handsigns, creating a small but stable orb of lightning that he let float above their heads to further illuminate the area in the back alley. Kakashi gasped at what he saw now with more light available. "While the clothing is cut precisely multiple times with small holes is the body basicly unharmed. And then these small scorch marks around the area, there is no mistaking it..."

Kakashi stopped speaking and inspected the wounds one more time, concentrating a small amount of chakra on one of it. He nodded on the reaction he got and spoke again. "While our experts should clearly take a look on this corpse would I say he got killed by multiple hits from lightning strikes coming from all directions at him."

"What? Lightning strikes from all directions at once? How is that even possible especially inside this small back alley?" Cat's voice was sporting a mixture of disbelief and surprise on Kakashi's conclusion. "Sure, these scorched areas look like the result of a Lightning Style attack, but..."

Kakashi shook his head and got up from the ground, facing Cat. "Well, not exactly. While it were lightning strikes was it no Lightning Style attack... In fact do I have seen an attack able to do exactly this even in this narrowed area. But it wasn't a Lightning Style..." his voice trailed off, his mind already thinking ahead.

Cat sighed at this reaction and gave Kakashi a weak punch in his side. "Focus, Spooky, and finish your explanation. Where have you seen it and what kind of attack was used? When you are sure you know then tell us."

Kakashi gave her a weak smile and spoke up again. "Well, the attack got used against me around three months ago when I rescued the kids. It's called Card Tricks: Ace of Diamonds and there is only one person capable of using this attack. But I really do wonder why he might be inside the village... he said he would go into hiding..." his voice trailed off again. 'Seriously, C, why are you here in Konoha? Did I misjudge you, or...'

That got Cat's attention. "Wait, you mean to say that the one you fought back then is currently here in Konoha? I need to inform Hokage-sama about that. We still need him for information about that organization. Spooky, you will try and track him down. The incident here isn't that long ago meaning you should be able to track him quite easily, right? Now go! And you two, get this corpse to the hospital for further inspections." she ordered the other two ANBU before heading towards the Hokage tower.

"And another free day that isn't free..." Kakashi said to himself before sighing. "Well, guess it's the same situation again. Tracking C from the organization... but if he is really hiding inside Konoha... Why are you here?" Kakashi gave the area another look before heading off into the village, following the tracks left by the attacker which must have been C.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Personal Note:**_ I'm not sure if I can promise weekly updates from now on. If my progress is similiar slow next week and my work stressful won't I be able to make it. This chapter was already shorter then my last ones. But I'll aim for an average of ~9-10k words per chapter, so... please don't worry if my updates start becoming less frequent. I'm still writing, only lost some speed recently.

Feel still free to give me a call if you have any idea, question or opinion you want to share with me ;-)


	13. Chapter 12 - Hinata's Birthday

_**Authors Note:**_ My Notes up here are somehow always the same. Life's stressful, working hard, writing slow... Decided to change things a little bit. I'm going to make something new up here and only add Author Notes if there is actually something really important I want to tell you all.

I plan on giving you some insight into my mind on how or why I created something or how I got some ideas or some more detailed explanations on things. I hope it's intresting for you. I have a few topics already in my mind but am willing to address things you are curious about as well, so feel free to ask.  
So without anymore words, here comes the new stuff I thought about:

 _ **[Unknown]'s Scouting Report: The Organization**_

"Huh? What? The boss lady said I have to share my intel and informations? That's some serious issue, but... orders are orders I guess. Okay, fine. What do I have to share? The Organization? Crazy woman, but okay.

Alright, it all started in "Chapter 4: Adventure!". I guess some of you might have realized the Shippuden flashback/filler episode that got used as a base for it, right? The one with the group sending young Naruto into the forest to retrieve a foreign item from the battlefield where he found the kunai in the bird's nest and got attacked by the three females, finally rescued by Iruka and Kakashi. Well, the boss lady couldn't remember from which village these three were, so she simply made them unknown. That way was it also possible for Hinata to find the collar as souvenir. Don't tell her I told you, but she kinda panicked when she couldn't remember and making them unknown was an emergency exit she took.

Anyway, she wasn't planing on doing anything more with them til she reached "Chapter 7: Adventure! #2" because she needed some villains in order to get the kidnapping running. And instead of pulling out any other villains from another filler/flashback/whatever episode - she thought on the one with the tainted chakra shooting the sticky chakra balls glueing Naruto and Sasuke together for example - did she pick up the earlier created unkown forces. That was when the Organization was born. They kinda raised from an emergency invention to a fully developed group containing a few on a whim created OCs that might all be get additional appearences in the future, now that they are existing.

It's kinda funny how things might develop, huh? And the boss lady seems to have taken a liking to one of the characters and actually gave him even more details. But, well, that's all there is to say about the Organization and how they appeared. So, orders for today fulfilled. I just hope I don't need to share anymore in the future..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of Two Sisters – Chapter 12: Hinata's Birthday**

Kakashi was racing through the streets of Konoha, jumping on top of a roof from time to time to cross even faster through the village. He was following the trail of a person he thought must be C and which had killed a member of the mysterious organization inside the village. It wasn't hard for him to follow the trail this time.

Last time, when he was out to rescue the kids, was the trail partially covered and traps were placed along it. But this time? It was easy for him. The person didn't even tried to hide any signs on the way it took and it was easy to follow. It was somehow like this person wanted to be found right now.

The most confusing part however was that the trail headed right into the busiest market area of Konoha. If the person was somewhere between all these masses of people... Stopping in his tracks did Kakashi slow down and walked through the crowd, looking for anything familiar or suspicious. It wasn't long before he noticed a pulk of people gathered in one spot at the side of the street and he went there as well to check it out.

However, what he saw once he made it through the crowd was something he wasn't expecting. In front of the wall was a small table with a man sitting behind it on a chair, his back at the wall. On the side of the table was some money laying around and the man was shuffling three cards around, smiling all the time.

"Common guys, try your luck and win some money. It's pretty easy, you know? All you need to do is find the ace and you win. That's a chance to win of 33% and it's hard to find a better way to make quick money!" the man explained while moving the cards around all the time on the table, picking one up from time to time to show the crowd the ace of spades.

One man inside the crowd stepped forward and the person sitting at the table stopped his shuffling right away, giving the man the possibility to choose. The man didn't need long and placed some money on the right side card, grinning.

Picking the card up was the person at the table smiling at the man. "Ah, nice pick, but it wasn't the ace. You picked the little one, one of my favorites." he showed the crowd the queen of hearts the man choosed and took his money, giving all a bright smile. "Who wants to try next? I'll increase your odds. 50% chance to win if you pick the ace now from the remaining two cards. Don't be shy and try!"

A woman stepped forward this time, grinning. "Ah, that's totally easy. It's always the one in the middle." she said and placed her money on the middle card. The person at the table nodded at her choice and smiled again and picked the middle card up, showing it to the crowd.

"Well, this was an intresting idea, but as you can see, it's the servant of the queen and not the ace." the card was indeed the jack of hearts and not the ace of spades. "It was close, but it was no hit." he turned the last card around to show that the ace of spades was the left card. "Who wants to try next?"

The person started to shuffle the cards again when Kakashi decided to step forward and addressed him. "I don't know, but do you maybe play other games as well? Like... I don't know, Black Jack?"

The person at the table looked at Kakashi and smiled brigthly. "Ah, hello there. Is it already that late that I forgot our meeting time? I'm totally sorry. Just let me pack my stuff and we can go." he put the money in his pocket and collected his cards before he addressed the crowd. "Well, you heard it guys, but I've forgotten an appointment. I'm sure you will get another chance at winning some money sooon!"

The crowd was disappearing into all directions while the person followed Kakashi into the nearest side alley that they could speak without anyone hearing by random. Once they reached around the middle of the alley did Kakashi speak up. "Okay, what are you doing here in Konoha, C? I thought you wanted to go into hiding and now did you show up and even killed someone within the village? You can't imagine how badly T&I wants to get you in order to get informations about your organization."

"Oh, I know that quite well, Copycat. I'm having a pretty effective scouting and spy-network within this whole fire country. But right now is Konoha the safest place for me to hide. Plus I'm able to make some money to live and it seems like you even got a weapon shop within the village that might be able to provide me with my special equipment. Do you know how hard it is to find one for that?" C answered, leaning against a wall.

Kakashi eyed C carefully. "And you thought it would be a good idea to kill someone? At day that is. Using a method that is leaving marks all over the place and make your victim scream out loud that half the village could hear?"

C simply shrugged. "That was a tracker and I needed to get rid of him. They are searching for me because I failed to fulfill my orders and with that am branded as traitor. My live was over the moment I lost to you, Copycat. And here I am, still alive. Oh, besides, the tracker was surveying the little one and that was something I couldn't tolerate. That and the fact that he found something out about me by getting in contact with the little one as well."

Kakashi shook his head. "You are crazy, aren't you? And to top it are you sitting in the market district, tricking the villagers and earning some money as if nothing happened..."

"What can I say? You took your time to follow me. I needed a way to pass the waiting time. And if I'm crazy, what are you? Talking to an enemy just like that without having called for backup? Though I would prefer if the kitten would stop to eavesdrop on us and just show herself. I'm not going to attack or run so there is no need to hide." C said totally calm, still leaning on the wall.

"Is that so?" Cat asked after jumping from the roof into the alley. "Kakashi, will you introduce me to your friend or shall I arrest you two on the spot? One for being an intruder and enemy of the village and the other for cooperating with said enemy?"

"Ah, yeah, well, you see, that's C. Hokage-sama is informed that I let him go three months ago and he trusted my judgement. So, everything is fine and under control here, Cat." Kakashi said, giving Cat an eye smile.

"I wouldn't call a dead enemy shinobi in our village 'everything is under control', but who am I to judge a situation?" Cat said sarcastic. "Especially if the one responsible is standing right in front of me, talking to another shinobi from our village like nothing had happened. Or do you think differently, Spooky?"

"Spooky?" C questioned before starting to laugh. "Now that's a good one, Kitten. But I can see it, his white hair in the dark alley. Matching." he grinned and addressed Cat. "Anyway, I'm here and willing to cooperate and give you the informations you want to know about the organization. Though I would like to ask for a few things in return, if possible."

"That's... how can you even think about asking for favors? We have more than enough reasons to treat you like the criminal you are." Cat replied, eyeing C waryly.

"Because his actions were forgiven already." Kakashi replied on that question calmly. "He made peace with his victims from our village, meaning the kids. And I let him live and go. He isn't a bad person."

"That's... he... you..." Cat stuttered, shaking her head. "Fine, whatever. Bring him to T&I for interrogation. If you two aren't there in 30 minutes will I forget everything and chase you down. Got that?" she asked quietly.

"Got it, Cat. I'll bring him there in time. Guess Anko will be happy to get some distraction from the paperwork. There wasn't much work for her lately." Kakashi stated, getting a nod from Cat who disappeared in the direction of the Torture & Interrogation division to inform them of the upcoming work.

"Ah, Anko is on duty? Guess it must be my lucky day then." C smiled, getting a confused look from Kakashi. "Nevermind. Well, I'm prepared for what will come. Shall we?" he asked before walking out of the alley without even waiting for a reply.

Kakashi followed him, wondering why he knew where the T&I division was located. 'You really are a strange one, C. I hope it wasn't a mistake to let you live, though I can hardly imagine that. But why are you here? I'm intrested...' Kakashi thought to himself.

T&I, 30 minutes later

They arrived right on time and C was brought into an interrogation room right away with Kakashi walking towards the observer room. Both Cat and the Hokage were there already to watch and get the informations first hand. "Too bad you made it..." Cat said quietly when Kakashi entered the room, getting a smile in return.

"Were you hoping to actually get to chase him because of my natural lateness?" he asked, angering the woman.

"Natural lateness? You are just lazy, Spooky!" she shot back. "Anyway, Anko should be here any moment. I'm intrested in what he has to say."

The Hokage nodded. "I am as well. Especially his informations about the organization do intrest me. With the incident today was it our third encounter already with them and we still know nothing about them." The other two agreed on that and they watched when the door to the interrogation room opened and Anko entered. They weren't prepared for what happened next, though.

Anko was a gorgeous woman with purplish hair bound in a spiky ponytail. She was wearing a pretty revealing outfit of mesh armor from neck to knee and shorts over it. She was also wearing a lightly brown trenchcoat which she always wore open because in her opinion was there nothing wrong with her outfit or body and covering it would be a waste. The open trenchcoat was simply her style.

However, when she spotted the person sitting in the interrogation room, the person that should bring her some distraction from the boring paperwork, did she stop in her tracks. She eyed C with an angry expression, hissing her words through clenched teeth. "You? You are the one I shall interrogate to get informations? You are a member of this mysterious organization?"

C smiled towards Anko. "It's good to see you again, Anko-chan. Yes, I was a member and I already said that I will tell you all you want to know, so there is no need to get violent. Oh, before I forget, I'm willing to give you back what you lost gambling against me." his smile turned into a slight grin when Anko blushed at these words, the observers clearly confused by what they were seeing and hearing. Anko would never blush.

"Nah, you can keep it. Just remind me to never play cards with you again..." Anko spit out. Kakashi couldn't help but smiling under his mask, knowing that C is a card trickster. But he wondered what he might have won from Anko.

"Oh, I thought we had fun last week in the bar. Anyway, I guess we should start, no? I mean, before someone here might get impatient with us. I'm not worried about Spooky, but Kitten might be a problem. Plus I'm sure your Hokage wants to hear my informations and we won't want to let the old man waiting, right?" he gave a wave in the direction of the observer room, though he wasn't able to see inside.

Anko sat down at the table opposite from C, having calmed down a bit. "You know that she will get you for calling her Kitten, right?" she grinned at C. "Alright, then let's have some fun and start simple. Your name, your origin, your occupation. And don't you dare try to lie to me."

C sighed. "How many times do I have to say that I want to cooperate? My name is C, and before you ask, no, there is nothing more. I've forgotten how I was named a long time ago, but names are not really important at all. And I don't remember where I'm born or something because I was with the Organization for a long time. As for my occupation? I'm a professionell card trickster and spy."

Anko's expression changed to an angry one. "Professionell card trickster? Does this mean you cheated on me to win all our games?" she was ready to kill someone.

"Huh? Not at all. You were so drunk you just weren't able to play good." C stated calmly, ignoring the threat in front of him.

"I... You... Fine. We will talk about that later. Okay, next point. Tell us about this organzation of yours. Name, important members, activities, all the intresting stuff." Anko tried hard to not kill the person in front of her. She knew enough that her work and private life are two seperated things, but that she was interrogating the person who humilated her in private was a hard factor to ignore.

"I already told you the name. It's simply called the Organization. To avoid unnecessary attraction and these things. As for important members..." he thought about it for a second. "Well, it's lead by 'her'. 'She' doesn't have a name as far as I can tell. Everyone is calling her 'her' or 'she'" he shrugged. "Then there is J. A mighty Earth user who tends to make mistakes if working under pressure. I'm sure that the Copycat encountered him already. And lastly me, C. I am, or better, was responsible for all spying stuff and information gathering. My network is quite amazing if I may say so."

He stretched lazyly before he continued. "That's also the reason why they want to see me dead. The moment I lost against the Copycat was the moment I died for the Organization. I'm marked a traitor since that moment and my life is officially over. That I'm still breathing is... quite random I would say. The corpse you found earlier was a tracker searching for me. You might be able to harvest some infiltrating techniques from it's corpse, but probably no informations."

All observer were listening intrested in these informations. It was way more than they were able to find out in three months and by the sound of it did Kakashi beat one of the leading staff. And that person was willingly and openly talking about the Organization. "I guess it was the correct decision to let him live..." Kakashi mumbled to himself.

"As for activities, there are not much, but these are large scale. Did you ever searched for something on the black market? Most of the stuff is distributed by them. That was also the reason why I joined them all these years ago. They were able to supply me with my special equipment." he continued to explain.

Anko interrupted him at that point. "What kind of special equipment are you talking about?"

"My cards of course. I'm sure the Copycat reported his fight with me, no? Well, I can show you." he said while letting a card slide from his sleeve into his hand. He placed it on the table and completed his handsigns quicker than anyone could have reacted. "Card Tricks: Ace of Hearts." Anko was ready to attack when she realized that C was completely calm and not hostile.

A moment later did she realize what he did when he grabbed an apple from the fruit basket standing on the table. "I'm talking about my cards. Each one does have a different effect. From offensive potential over supportive or protective til emergency storage like this one. I'm a specialist fighting with my card decks." he ate the apple, completely ignoring the glare he got from Anko.

"Is he... really toying with Anko and totally relaxed right now?" Kakashi asked in disbelief, watching the scene in front of him with a mixture of awe and shock.

Cat nodded her head slightly. "It seems that way, yes. I wonder where these two have met before though. And I wonder what happened between them as well. I never saw Anko that confused or embarassed."

"But he is giving us all the informations nonetheless. He said he wanted to cooperate and he is doing exactly that, so..." the Hokage pondered, stroking his beard in thought. "I guess it's alright. Nobody is harmed at all."

Anko was taking an apple as well and took a bite. "Okay, funny, question answered. Would you please go on with the informations?"

C smiled at her. "Ah, sure. Well, as you might have guessed is there another main income source for the Organization. The work and handling of merchandise. Or to put it more frankly, slave training and trading. Promising ones might be trained and raised to work and fight for us. Others are trained and sold. The kids from your village back then might have been treated differently, but with the Copycat on our trail did she decide to sell them as quickly as possible. Well... the result is known I guess."

Anko nodded her head in understanding, thinking for a moment. "Can you tell us where their base of operations is located?" she eyed C carefully.

He in return shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't. All I can say is that they moved out of the Fire Country. I don't know where their current base of operations is and the one they used here will be unfindable. J is taking care of getting rid of evidence. As said, he's a mighty Earth user able to completely hide a whole village inside the ground to never be found again."

Taking another apple to eat did he continue. "That's also the answer for the question the Copycat had for me. The reason I'm in Konoha is that it is currently the safest place for me to hide from them since they moved out of this country. And with the tracker gone will it take a long time for them to figure I'm still alive, as long as I'm hiding here."

Anko was silent for some moments, thinking about all these informations. When she finally spoke up did she look towards the observer room. "So with other words are you saying that you want us to take you in, in exchange for your informations? To provide you with safety in exchange for your talents and spy network?"

C shrugged his shoulders. "I could still hide and you never would know that I'm here. The Copycat found me cause I wanted to be found. Yes, I would like to stay here officially. And yes, there is a reason why. I'm sure the Copycat does know it." he grinned towards the observer room.

Kakashi got looks from Cat and the Hokage, scratching the back of his head. "What? I don't know what he is talking about. All I know is... oh... okay, right. He wants to meet the girls, the two Hyuga sisters, again. He must have heard that the older one is having her birthday soon."

"And you think this would be a good idea, Kakashi?" the Hokage asked, thinking about these informations. "Who is telling us that he won't try to trick us or to kidnap the kids again?"

"We can't be sure about that, but... I tell you, he isn't an evil person. And the girls got along with him as well and they made peace back then. I say it's a win-win situation for us if we take him in under certain restrictions of course." Kakashi stated.

"I'll think about it. He may continue his life right now the way he did before but under surveilance. Cat, you will be responsible for that and Kakashi, you are responsible as his contact and for his actions." the Hokage decided, leaving the room and T&I.

"Thanks for the additional work, Spooky..." Cat sighed and joined Kakashi on his way to the interrogation room. They were going to inform Anko and C about the recent decision of the Hokage.

Academy, next morning

Naruto was already waiting for the girls in front of the Academy this morning. There was a new rumour around that he wanted to tell them and it wasn't about them this time. Ino just passed him minutes ago but she seemed not to be herself. When Naruto wanted to talk to her about the new rumour did she simply shrug and moved on, somehow like her mind was totally away with other things.

He didn't knew that she learned about the kidnapping the day before and he certainly didn't knew that Ino was thinking about Hanabi's word for the whole time once she left the storeroom and parting from her. All he knew was that Ino wasn't her usual self this morning.

His mind was still thinking about Ino and he was totally surprised when someone waved a hand in front of his eyes. "Earth to Naruto, you there?" Hanabi asked, slightly giggling when Naruto blinked his eyes in surprise before he focused on her.

"I.. was just thinking about Ino. She is so totally different this morning. Anyway, glad you are here. I need to tell you something. But..." he eyed Hinata. "You won't attack me anymore, right Hinata-chan?"

Hinata had an innocent smile on her face and wasn't answering. Hanabi raised an eyebrow and answered in her place. "She... attacked you? Did I miss something after I left the training field?"

"Well, somehow..." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "We were at Ichiraku's eating something once I woke up and she attacked me with a bubble made of broth because I tried the advanced move again." Hinata was still smiling innocently while Naruto talked.

"She... did what?" to say Hanabi was surprised would be an understatement.

"Yeah, she attacked me with the good ramen broth. After that did I promise to not try the advanced moves anymore and she was all happy again. But that was totally scary... and she isn't even saying anything now." he shook his head slightly.

Hanabi wasn't sure how she should feel right now. On one side was she kinda happy that her former shy sister became such an open minded girl that would even prank others or in that case aggressive negotiate something. On the other side however was she disappointed in her slave's behavior. "Sis... we are going to talk about that later in private."

Hinata nodded slightly but still didn't speak. She was aware of what she did and right now did she just know that Hanabi was totally in mistress-mode and speaking without being allowed would make the talk worse. So far was Hanabi all nice to her, but she felt that her sister was changing a little as well.

Naruto didn't catch the deeper meaning of that and smiled. "Thanks Hanabi-chan. Anyway, did you hear? There is a new rumour. It's about Kiba this time." he said grinning in Hanabi's direction. "They say he won't be able to come to the Academy for a few days because he was terribly beaten by his mother for something stupid he did."

Hanabi gulped at that information. "That's... bad. This means he will be even more focused on me now. And not in a good way... What to do..." her mind trailed off and she got lost in her thoughts. Naruto was a bit lost by her reaction and looked towards Hinata for support who simply shrugged her shoulders, not knowing either why her sister reacted that way.

"Hanabi? You alright?" Hinata asked worried, placing her hand on Hanabi's shoulder. Still not reacting on that did Hinata pull her into a hug. That sudden and unexpected movement did the trick and brought her back to reality. "Glad you are back with us." Hinata said smiling. "Do you know something about Dogboy?"

Hanabi smiled slightly and got away from the hug. "Yeah, actually I do. He tried to attack me yesterday. I was totally in thought and he would have gotten me by surprise. But before he hit me did someone by whatever kind of luck or bad luck walk in between us at the last second. Dogboy hit a civilian and ran away after that. Guess he got watched and someone told his mom. Scary woman..."

Naruto nodded at that last statement. "Say that again. She totally scared me when we met her for the first time... and if she beats up her own son just like that for, honestly, something that stupid. Wow..."

"I guess all this means we need to train even harder, right?" Hinata asked rhetorically. "Oh, before I forget, we met Spooky yesterday and I told him that you are looking for him for some advice, Hanabi. He will approach you hopefully." she smiled weakly towards her sister.

Hanabi simply nodded and kept moving. Her thoughts were everywhere but at the Academy this day. Why did Kiba hate her that much? Why did her slave show bad behavior? Why did her training didn't work the way it should? Why couldn't she come up with entertainment for the party?

She never realized that they reached the classroom and took their seats. But everyone watching at her right now would see a picture that most likely would never be seen again: the normally happy Hanabi and the usually gossiping Ino sitting next to each other in complete silence and deep in thoughts. Both weren't paying any attention either when Iruka entered and started his class.

Once Academy was over

Ino's mind was absent the whole day and once the last lesson was finished did she leave the classromm without saying anything to anyone. The words Hanabi had for her the day before made her think so much about the future and what she wanted to become that she basivly lost a whole day of her live with all this deep thinking.

It was kind of similiar with Hanabi that day. Once the class finished did she got up from her seat and walked quietly toward the exit, ignoring anyone trying to talk to her, including Hinata and Naruto.

"Hey, Hinata-chan, are we still going to train together? Though it seems like Hanabi-chan isn't coming today. I wonder what's up with her." Naruto spoke to Hinata who gave her leaving sister a look from time to time.

"Sorry Naruto-kun, but I think I should walk Hanabi home and see if I can do something for her. But I wish you good luck with your training. And remember, not the advanced moves as long if you are still struggling with the basics." she smiled at Naruto who felt a shiver run down his spine.

"Don't worry, I won't. That's what I promised and I keep my promises. Well, see you tomorrow." Naruto gave her a wave and dashed out of the classroom, eager to get back to his training with his staff.

Hinata also left the classroom, hurrying to catch up with her sister. "Hey, you okay, Hanabi? What's bothering you?" Hinata asked worried but still got no reply from her sister. "You are scaring me if you don't answer, you know?" she said quietly still etting no reply. So she simply stayed close and followed her sister home.

The whole walk back home was in silence for the two girls and once there did Hanabi aim for her room, still not having said a single word. Hinata was following her quietly, sitting down at her sisters desk while Hanabi sat on her bed. It took another five minutes before Hanabi sighed and finally said something.

"Sis, I'm frustrated. There are some things bothering me lately which is frustrating but stuff like that can happen. But now am I in addition disappointed and that's because of your behavior towards Naruto. I know that you changed your character because of all of us and overcame your shyness which is nice. But it isn't okay to threat Naruto, our friend in such a way. You do understand that, right?" she asked her sister speaking quietly.

Hinata nodded. "Yes, I do. But Naruto-kun was trying these moves over and over again, always hurting himself. I just... couldn't stand that anymore and wanted him to stop with that til he improved." she answered quietly as well.

"I don't like that either, sis. But that's just how Naruto is, you know? And all that doesn't change the fact that I'm responsible for your actions. We went through most of the books together and you know as much as I do. I allowed you many freedoms but now... did you hurt the trust I had in you. And I think I need to correct that in some way... wouldn't you agree?" Hanabi managed to stay calm while talking, something that surprised herself.

Hinata hesitated for a moment before she slowly nodded. "I agree, Mistress..." she answered, letting her head hang in defeat.

Hanabi got up from her bed and walked over to Hinata, signaling her to stand up from the chair. Hinata followed that order and stood up just to suddenly be grabbed by Hanabi who pressed her upper body on the desk. She was struggling against the grip holding her arms together on her back, but failed.

"The easiest would be to give you a nice spanking right now..." Hanabi said quietly, her head close to Hinata's ear. "But I don't feel like using my energy on that sort of thing. You will go and apologize to Naruto for what you have done. And I want you to think about your action and understand why it isn't okay to threaten one of our friends."

Hinata had stopped struggling and listened carefully before she replied. "I understand. I will go and apologize to Naruto-kun. And it won't happen again, Mistress." her voice was shivering slightly. She could feel that her sister was dead serious right now, despite her usual happyness and cheerful character.

"I'm glad to hear that. Because..." her voice became even quieter now. "If you won't do will I need to provide consequences for you. And the first thing to do would be officially inform the old man about us. This way am I safe to do whatever I see fit. Do you understand the meaning of that, slave?"

Hinata paled visibly by that, trying to look over her shoulder at Hanabi. "You... would do that?" she asked, shock written all over her face.

Hanabi put a sweet smile on her lips that sent a shiver down Hinata's spine. "I told you this will happen eventually. All I'm saying is that I will do that earlier then originally planned if you aren't going to behave and apologize to Naruto and promise to not do something like that anymore."

Hinata gulped and closed her eyes. "I understand, mistress. It won't happen again and I will apologize to Naruto-kun for the way I treated him. I wasn't right to threat him physically because of his character."

In an instant was Hanabi away from her sister and her character back to her cheerful self, though still a bit damped by the other things bothering her. "See, that wasn't too hard, right? Good girl." she smiled from ear to ear while Hinata got up from the desk.

"Yes mistress. I'm really sorry for my behavior." letting her head hang in defeat did she again confirm the agreement they just made. "If it's okay will I go to my room now." getting a small nod from Hanabi in return was Hinata leaving her sisters room. She was too distracted to see the person that vanished just a moment ago around the next corner.

'What did just happen there?' a confused Neji thought to himself, hurrying away from his cousins rooms. 'I thought I could ignore what I heard back then, that they were just playing or something. But that sounded serious right now. What is happening between these two? I... don't know what to do...'

Neji just happened to pass Hanabi's room by random when he heard louder voices from the inside and stopped to listen, in case there was something up and maybe some help of any kind needed. But the conversation he then witnessed by eavesdropping on his cousins shocked him to the core. They adressed each other as slave and mistress and talked about making it official. He shook his head and aimed for his own room. Whatever he wanted to do was gone from his mind, his thoughts racing around his two cousins...

Early the next morning

Hinata was woken up by her sister the next morning, around two hours earlier than she would normally get up for the Academy. All Hanabi said to her was that this would be part of her punishment, giving her a piece of paper before wishing a good night and heading back to her own room to get two more hours of sleep.

Still not fully awake did she take the piece of paper and read it:

 _'Hey sis,_

 _I thought it would be good to remind you of the things I can do if you don't behave, if you shame me, if you do something wrong. I love you, but our relationship has more than just that one level of being siblings. Here are some orders for this morning._

 _1\. take a shower and dress yourself for the day_

 _2\. take your Academy stuff and leave the compound without breakfast_

 _3\. head over to Naruto's apartment and wait in front til he gets up_

 _4\. knock on his door and apology to him. I will ask him about that later_

 _If you want some breakfast do you have to ask him if he is willing to share with you._

 _Have fun, sis.  
Love, Hanabi'_

Hinata sighed in defeat and totally regretted what she did to Naruto by now. She knew that she probably was pushing her luck with that action and now was she paying the price for it. In the end should she be lucky that her sister wasn't doing anything worse to her. But she guessed that from now on it might get a bit harder for her.

After getting ready for the day was she on her way to Naruto's apartment just an hour later. It was cold this morning and Hinata was glad that she took her jacket with her. Knowing Naruto was she prepared to wait in front of his door for a good one and an half hour before he finally would get up. Time enough for her to think about why she had to do that and what she did wrong.

It took her ten minutes to reach Naruto's apartment. The streets were completely empty, nobody was out that early. Not even the shopkeepers were on the way to their shops yet. She sat down next to the door and put her arms around her legs, pulling them close to herself. Taking a deep breath did she close her eyes and tried to relax a little, starting to think about things.

'Why am I here? Because I attacked Naruto-kun for being stubborn and Hanabi-sama wasn't happy with that. She said I couldn't act that way towards our friends and I know that she is right. It was just frustrating that he always hurts hisself. But this also means that she has no problems with my character. I just shouldn't act that way towards friends, right?'

She was shaking a little. 'It's cold this morning. Glad I took my jacket. I just hope she won't get mad at me for wearing it again. But I should be fine, after all is it becoming colder these days. And just few days left til my birthday. I still don't know where the party will be or who is invited. And I'm still worried about what present she might give me. I have a feeling that it will be something I don't want to receive. Or at least not seen by anyone...'

Opening her eyes again did she take a look at Naruto's apartment. There was still no light inside, meaning that Naruto must be still sleeping. 'I hope he will wake up soon. It would be embarassing being seen sitting in front of his door that early at morning. Please let nobody nearby leave their homes that early... Please Naruto-kun, please get up soon. It's cold...'

Hinata wasn't sure how much time had passed since she sat down, but finally did she hear noises from the inside and a light got on. She stood up and wanted to knock on the door, when she suddenly heard a new noise that sounded like flowing water. 'Right, first thing to do in the morning is taking a shower. So more waiting til he is finished.'

It took another 15 minutes before the light in his living room was switched on and Hinata could finally knock on the door. He must be done with the bathroom and dressed by now. Another minute passed before the door was opened and Naruto, luckily dressed already, had a surprised look on his face.

"Hinata-chan? What are you doing here that early? It's cold..." he shivered when the wind picked up a little. "Come inside. Seriously, why are you out there that early?" asking worriedly while Hinata stepped into his apartment and closed the door behind her.

"I... wanted to apologize to you, Naruto-kun. For the way I treated you at Ichiraku's. It wasn't right for me to do that. It's just... I'm always worried about you when you get reckless, trying these moves that are way too hard for you. I just... wanted you to stop that." she explained to him, still standing in the entrance way.

"And you came all the way over here that early just for that? You could have waited til the Academy. Besides, I'm not mad at you or something. I know that these moves are too hard, but it's the only thing I can practice right now, with no elemental affinity... It's really okay, Hinata-chan. And I'm sorry for worrying you." Naruto smiled at her.

Hinata nodded and wanted to answer, when her stomach started to grumble. Naruto was raising an eyebrow, watching her questionly when she spoke up. "Uhm... I hadn't had breakfast yet. Would you mind if I could get some from you?" she asked quietly, a small blush on her face.

"Sure thing. I was just preparing it, so just wait a little, okay? It's nothing special though." he answered, getting back to his kitchen to finish the food. Hinata sat down at the table to wait for him. She was relieved that she would get something to eat. And that she fulfilled her orders. Hopefully was this all the punishment for now...

Few days later, Hinata's birthday

It was early in the morning and Hinata was still sleeping. Turning around in bed did she nestle deeper into the warm and comfy thing her head was laying on. And the hand stroking her hair felt so good and relaxing that her body didn't want to wake up at all.

It took another 30 minutes before she finally entered the process of waking up, doing so very slowly however. Still more asleep than awake did her mind realize the warm and comfy pillow as well as the stroking. It felt so cozy that the brain was ordering the body to stop the wake up process to enjoy the sensation even more.

Hinata got nestled into the sensation this time a bit more aware of her action. She knew that her body and her mind were right, that it really felt good. Not being able to control her body in this state did a small purr escape her lips. Hearing a slight giggle as answer took her sleepy brain a good minute to realize and another minute before it processed the information completely. Hinata wasn't alone in her room.

That was finally the point on which she tried forcing her mind and body to start up the wake up process again, her body tensing slightly. The giggle could be heard again, the stroking of her hair never stopping. "Relax, everything is fine. You can enjoy yourself more if you want." a quiet but affectionate voice whispered into her ear.

Trying to open her eyes and to focus on the person who spoke did she however relax again, figuring that she could trust the voice. "Now that's a good girl. Just relax and enjoy as long as you want." the voice spoke up again. "After all it's your birthday today and you are allowed to enjoy yourself."

Purring again at these words was she finally relaxing completely within the presence of the other person. She wasn't really aware of it when her lips started mumbling a response all by themselfs. "Thank you, mistress."

There was the giggle again, a third time now. "That's a good girl. My girl." there clearly was happyness within the voice that brought Hinata completely at ease, resulting in her falling back to sleep. Never having stopped the troking did Hanabi talk to herself. "I would have never thought that she would enjoy it that much. Wonder how she will react when she finally starts to realize this situation."

Hanabi was watching her sleeping sister, holding her head still in her lap, continueing to stroke her hair. She thought she would give Hinata a special wake up on her birthday and had two good reasons for that. The first was today being her birthday of course. The second however was it being an appology for the harsh morning she gave her the day Hinata had to apology to Naruto.

Giggling again did she focus back on the book laying next to her on the bed. It was the same book about pets that Hinata got from Naruto back when they first met and that Hanabi took from her as punishment for talking back to her before they got into the kidnapping. She was currently re-reading the chapter titled 'Comforting your Pet' while never stopping her actions.

15 minutes later did Hinata finally start to wake up for real, opening her eyes and watching up from the lap her head were laying on into the face of her sister. "Good morning." she yawned, giving a weak smile.

"Morning sis. Happy birthday." Hanabi answered smiling at her sister. "Hope you slept good?"

Hinata nodded slightly. "I did. Your lap feels so comfy and the stroking is so relaxing. It's a nice way to wake up." she was blushing a bit once she realized the words she just spoke, but thought it was okay right away.

"Glad to hear that. I thought I would make it up to you that I sent you out so early without breakfast the last time. And it's your birthday after all. Ready to get up?"

Pulling herself out of Hanabi's lap did Hinata sat up in her bed, stretching her body, when her eyes fell on the opened book next to them. She did realize this one pretty quickly and a quick glance on the opened page let her hang her head in defeat. "I knew that this book would haunt me..." she said quietly. "And that you would tease me with it."

Hanabi grinned at her sister. "But you said yourself that it felt nice to wake up this way. So, nothing wrong with it, right?" she hugged her sister before whispering in her ear. "But I do wonder. Might you be not just a slave at heart but maybe a pet as well?"

That was too much for Hinata and she blushed a crimson red while Hanabi couldn't help but start laughing. This reaction was priceless. Wiping a tear away was Hanabi speaking up. "I'm sorry sis. That wasn't fair of me. It's your birthday after all. I guess I can tell you the plan for today now if you want. Unless you want it all to be a surprise to you?"

Thinking it over for a moment did Hinata shook her head. "I don't want to know all the details, but if you would tell me the major points for today?" she asked her sister, her face still red but she ignored it. Not like she would be able to do something against her own blushing at all.

"Sure, just the major points then." Hanabi repeated. "I guess we are lucky that today is a free day. We got a location to which the guests are invited for 11am. Lunch will be supplied and we will eat around noon. Then is time for you to get your presents and after that is there a bit entertainment til it's over. And for this evening have I planned some time for just the two of us." she finished the list and Hinata nodded.

"I see. So we have a bit of time between breakfast and before the party starts. Alright." Hinata stretched her body again and got out of her bed, aiming for her bathroom. "I'm ready in 30 minutes." and with that did she disappear in her bathroom and Hanabi took the book up, reading a bit to pass the time.

Hyuga Compound, Hiashi's office

The girls already left the house when a knock could be heard at the office door. Hiashi took the scroll down he was currently reading and shifted his focus on the door. "Come in."

The door opened and Neji entered the room, slightly bowing to the head of the clan. "Good morning Hiashi-sama. I'm sorry for interrupting your work." he said politely.

"It's alright. You know that I have always time for my nephew. So, what can I do for you, Neji?" he asked intrested. It was rare for Neji to approach him so he figured it must be something important.

Neji thought about how to phrase it for a moment before he spoke. "Hiashi-sama, I think there is something strange going on with your daughters. I'm not sure how I should handle this information and decided to bring it to your attention."

Hiashi raised an eyebrow at that statement. "What do you mean something strange is going on? You are talking about the heiresses of our clan, so better be careful what you are saying." if this was going to be a joke was it not a funny one already.

Taking a deep breath did Neji start to explain. "I happened to incidently listen into their conversations twice. The first time was on the day the Academy started and I thought they were playing around or something and ignored it. The second time was few days ago and both times were the topic... strange, for the lack of a better word."

Hiashi stayed calm on the outside, but inside was his anger rising slightly. "You do know that listening into other conversations is strictly forbidden within our clan? You are risking a lot by telling me, so better get to the point."

"Yes Hiashi-sama. The first time did they talk about being a slave and accepting that. I really thought they were playing or something. The second time however... was Hanabi-san saying something about making it official and Hinata-san sounded kinda panicked when she apologized quite a lot, calling Hanabi-san 'mistress' over and over again and in return got adressed as slave. I really don't know what to think about that, why I'm telling you." Neji explained.

Hiashi was silent for some moments, processing the things he just heard. He took a deep breath and exhaled, before finally speaking. "You are aware how.. absurd this story sounds? Besides, there didn't seemed to be anything strange about them. The only thing I noticed is how Hinata changed during the last two years but I guess that is something positive. I don't want to hear anymore about that bad joke unless there is proof of it. And now get out. I'm not in the mood for that."

Neji simply nodded and left the room, not knowing if this was a mistake right now or not. But he had to tell someone and the head of the clan, the father of his cousins sounded like a good idea to him...


	14. Chapter 13 - Party!

**_Author's Note:_** Huh... I just got a call from my mother this morning. My grandmother passed away this night. Is it weird that I'm not feeling something? I mean, we were expecting that to happen for six years now and were surprised that she still lived for that long, but... I don't know. Shouldn't I at least feel something like... sadness? Or maybe relieve that she got away from her six years in bed? **_  
_**

I'm really worried about myself right now. Am I holding back on instinct because I'm at work? If so... not sure if I want to go home today... that sucks.  
Anyway, I got this chapter finished before getting the call, so *shrugs* no point in not uploading it. But bear with me if I'm not writing much the upcomming days, 'kay?

Oh, and I skipped the spell check for... reasons, only corrected the formatting of the speech (guess it's saying something that I'm doing that in my working break instead of writing and not as usual at the weekend...). If you find some typos or something bigger, feel free to inform me that I can fix them up. Though I'm kinda confident that there shouldn't be too much at all. I guess. Probably...

XXXXX

 _ **[Unknown]'s Scouting Report: The OC "C" & Card Tricks**_

"I figured the boss lady would order me to share more of my intel. Something I'm not that happy about, but... And then such a complicated topic as well... Whatever. Best to get done with it.

I'll say it right away: the boss lady never intended to create own characters. Said something about her not being creative and that an own character would be way too much work to invent and maintain. But look at her writing all that crazy stuff... *shakes head* uhm, nevermind.

Anyway, her best friend had his birthday end of July and when she asked him what he was wishing for did he say he doesn't want something - and then joked that she could include him in her story. She was thinking about that and told him that she saw no way of fitting him in. Well, that was til the point the three Organization members appeared. The description she used for C; slender, tall, 30 years, short blonde hair; that's basicly a rough description of his appearence. And the nick/code/short name of "C"? You might be able to guess now, first letter of his name.

Well, there he was, an OC created on her best friend and with that a fulfilled birthday wish. Not that he would read this story... Anyway, when she thought about his skills started the struggle. I mean, if you take your time inventing a character should he be unique, right? And considering that basicly everything is used as weapon in the Naruto universe - the one rain genin in the forest of death had an umbrella filled with senbon; hell, Utakata is fighting with soap bubbles - did she somehow land on playing cards.

There were of course inspiration for that. The first would be the gambler custome sphere from "Final Fantasy X-2" and the second the character "Ace" from "Final Fantasy Type 0 HD" - both using cards in some way as a weapon. Though all the moves were her own idea. Using the numbers, pictures and symbols wasn't genius at all. It was the most obvious thing to start with. But when she pulled off Black Jack, well, that was impressive. And there is so much room for more.

While she never planned on using OC's was C too well created to let him die. Not that I want to complain about it. I wouldn't be here if she had killed me... Anyway... Think that wraps it up about that topic. So hate it talking about myself..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters – Chapter 13: Party!**

The girls were sitting on a bench in the biggest park of Konoha, enjoying the fresh air this morning. It wasn't too really warm but not too cold either. Basicly perfect to relax and let the thoughts drift away.

"Hey, Hanabi, where will the party be held?" Hinata asked after a while, looking at her sister next to her who herself looked into the sky. "I mean, you invited Naruto-kun as well, right? So I guess there are not much locations we could go..."

Hanabi sighed before nodding. "Yeah, that gave me a major headache. I was searching for a location for days when Ino approached me, telling that her family owns a storeroom that isn't used at this time of year. After showing it to me did we decide to do the party there. It's big enough for all of us, it doesn't cost anything and Naruto is welcome there."

Hinata thought about it for a moment. "Guess I need to thank Ino and her parents later for that. I wouldn't want to exclude Naruto-kun from my birthday. That would be... not fair at all..." she said quietly, closing her eyes and enjoying the breeze that picked up. "Who did you invite?"

Hanabi finally turned her head to look at her sister, raising an eyebrow at her. "Didn't you say you don't wanted to know the details just an hour ago?" Hinata only shrugged lightly at that statement, smiling innocently at her sister. "Okay, if you want to know. Not too many... I figured that we don't have that much friends, you know?"

Thinking about that statement did Hinata kept silent for some minutes, before talking. "I never thought about that, but... you are right. Naruto-kun and Ino are our closest friends. Then there is Shikamaru and Chouji is always with him too. And then..." she trailed off, her mind failing to find additional names.

"Yeah... that's it, basicly. And it didn't help much finding more with all these rumours about us around. We got some wary looks after the events in the northern forest. After the slave one did they start keeping there distance to us, thinking we are weird. And the kidnapping one is still running around, even three months later." Hanabi sighed again.

Hinata bit on her lower lip. "You know... we don't need much friends, as long as we have good ones, right?" she asked unsure. "Plus we kinda get along with Spooky and Cat-san. Think we could count them as well?"

Shrugging at that did Hanabi answer her sister. "But they are adults. Who knows how they look at us? I invited them, though... they declined however, saying they were busy with work."

"Want to go invite dogboy on short notice?" Hinata suggested, starting to giggle when Hanabi paled at that.

"Are you trying to get me killed? I'm sure that he will try exactly that the next time he sees me. Am totally glad he missed the Academy the whole week..." she said quietly before looking her sister in her eyes. "Or are you trying to get me killed to get free from our relation? If so do I need to punish you." a slight grin entered her face.

Hinata shook her head. "I don't! I was just joking." she said quickly. "But what about, I don't know. Shino or Sakura? Maybe Sasuke?"

"Aren't you paying attention at class? If Sakura would be around will it only end in her and Ino arguing about who might be cooler, Naruto or Sasuke. Speaking of Sasuke, he doesn't seem to be intrested in any kind of social contacts with anyone. And Shino... is kinda creepy, don't you think? Always wearing this trenchcoat, covering himself up..." Hanabi shivered slightly at that thought.

Letting her head hang in defeat for a moment did Hinata nod. "Guess you are right. We just have to make the best out of the few friends we have. Well, let's go, shall we?" she got up from the bench, smiling at her sister. "Or better, please lead the way to the place you prepared for today."

Hanabi jumped up from the bench in an instant, smiling brightly at her sister. "Alright, let's go! To your party!" she exclaimed exicted and started walking, just to suddenly stop and turning around. "Uhm, guess I was around Naruto for too long by now. Wrong direction." she mumbled quietly before walking off in another direction.

Hinata couldn't help but laugh while she followed her sister who blushed. 'I'm glad that you are still you, Hanabi, and that we get along so well. I couldn't ask for a better sister.' she thought to herself while smiling at Hanabi who led the way. These were the moments reminding her that her situation wasn't bad at all.

Yamanaka storeroom, a bit later

"Woah..." Hinata was totally amazed the moment she entered the storeroom. The walls were completely covered in balloons, garlands and fresh flowers with even more flowers standing around the room. She knew that her sister went to work on the location for a good week, but she never imagined that it would be that pretty.

Hanabi smiled at her sisters reaction, letting her some time to watch the room before speaking up. "Ino helped me decorate the room. The flowers were added yesterday in the evening, that they would be as fresh as possible. I think it turned out quite nice."

"Quite nice? You call that quite nice? If that's quite nice, what is beautiful in your eyes?" Hinata asked in disbelief, letting her eyes wander between the decoration and her sister.

Giggling quietly did Hanabi shake her head. "I would never call some flowers, or many flowers in this case, the same way I would call my sister. You are beautiful, sis. This is one of the reasons why I don't like it when you are wearing that big jacket of yours."

That was an answer she wasn't expecting and her jaw dropped, while she only looked at her younger sister and didn't moved at all. Shaking her head to get out of that daze did she needed a whole minute, in which Hanabi simple smiled at her, before she could speak again. "You think... that I'm beautiful?" the blush entering her face was getting more intense with every second that past.

"Of course I do, because you are, sis. And it's not just your figure and looks but the whole. You are pretty and have a kind character but are able to speak up if something is to your dislike. You are indeed beautiful, Hinata." it was ultra rare for Hanabi to call her sister by her name and both of them knew that.

Hearing her name spoken by her sister was the final point for her to accept these words as the truth. She nodded and gave a big smile. "Thank you, Hanabi. You don't know how much this means to me."

Moving a bit closer and giving Hinata a hug did Hanabi whisper into her ear. "And it makes me happy being the mistress of such a beautiful girl."

Hinata's blush reached a crimson red by that statement and she quickly looked around the room, confirming that there was still nobody here. "Please... stop the teasing..." she said quietly. "If you keep that up... and the guests arrive... you don't want them to know, do you?" she asked a bit worried.

Getting a bit away from her sister did Hanabi put her finger on her lower lip, thinking about that for a moment. "Well, it might be not a bad idea. That way would they know that they have to come to me if they want you. Especially your Naruto-kun." she grinned while her sister paled, clearly not too happy with that idea. "Oh, common sis, that was a joke. Okay, I'll stop the teasing for today. Because it's your birthday."

Taking a deep breath to calm herself down did Hinata mumble a quiet "Thanks." before she walked around the room, taking a closer look on some of the decorations. She finally stopped at the table for the presents on which were two already placed. "Who's are these?" she asked intrested.

Hanabi closed the distance and stood next to her sister. "These are mine and Ino's, silly. We were decorating the room the whole week, so we decided to simply leave them here already." she giggled when Hinata blushed in embarassment. That really was something she might have come up with herself.

Not saying a word did Hinata continue her walk, stopping at the tables that were meant for the food. "Before you ask, Teuchi-san from Ichiraku's is supplying the food. He should be here any minute. And for your second question: there will be more than just ramen to eat, don't worry."

Hanabi was grinning like mad at her sister, who indeed was about to ask these two questions, but never managed to word them. "That's kinda creepy, you know? I mean, we know each other forever, but at least let me voice my questions even if you know that they are coming..." Hinata pouted and Hanabi couldn't help but think that it looked cute on her.

Biting her lip to not laugh out loud and wiping a tear away that made it's way out of her eye did she smile apologetical. "Sorry sis. I'll try to not do that again, okay? I just knew you would ask, so... I'm sorry."

At that moment was the sound of the door hearable and they both turned around to watch who was coming. It was indeed Teuchi, carrying a huge box into the room, walking toward the food tables. "Well if these aren't two of my favorite three youngest customers!" he smiled at the girls, placing the box on one of the tables. "Happy birthday, Hinata!" walking towards the girl of honor did he hug her smiling.

"Thanks, Teuchi-san. And thank you for providing us with food for today. I don't know how I can repay you for that." she answered smiling.

Walking back to his box did he start to take the different food out of it, placing it on the tables. "Don't worry about it. Your sister already took care of everything. She might be young, but she is very clever and good at negotiations." he gave them both a grin while he put all kinds of different food down.

"And it's looking all so very good!" Hanabi exclaimed happily, watching everything they got. "I guess your daughter cooked most of it?"

"Maybe half. I can cook more than just ramen, you know." Teuchi smiled brightly at the girls, carrying the empty box towards the door. "Just let me go grab the second box and you will be good for your party." and with that was he gone for the moment.

"What did he mean with you took care of everything?" Hinata asked her sister curiously.

Hanabi gave her a shrug as answer before speaking. "Don't worry about it. I prepared the party and I managed everything. The details aren't that important."

Pondering these words for a moment did Hinata nod slightly. "Well, I guess so..."

"And here comes the rest of the food!" Teuchi exclaimed happily from the door, entering with another big box. "I'm sure there will be something for everyone. Though I do wonder..." he reached the table and started unboxing the rest of the food. "You weren't asking for a birthday cake. Did you get one from another place?"

Both were looking at Hanabi curiously who didn't react at first, then paled before smacking herself on the forehead. "I... totally forgot about that..."

Hinata burst out in laughter, holding her stomach. "Right. You managed everything and the details aren't that important..." she soon had problems getting enough air and wiped some tears away while Hanabi was grumbling to herself.

"I believe you will be fine even without one. I mean, you got more than enough food here so missing a cake isn't that much of a thing?" Teuchi supplied helpfully on which both girls nodded in union.

"And that's why my mother baked one this morning." a cheerful Ino chimed in, entering the room carrying a cake.

"Well, problem solved. I wish you kids a nice day." Teuchi sayed before leaving the room with his empty box. He had a ramen stand to run after all.

Ino placed the cake on a table and got to Hinata, pulling her into a big hug. "Happy birthday, Hinata-chan. May all your wishes come true." she whispered the last part into her ear on which Hinata blushed slightly. "Though, I don't believe after all that Naruto will give you that special present you want to get." she grinned.

"You are such a meanie..." Hinata said quietly, letting her head hang. "Could you stop the teasing please? It's my birthday, you know? And I'm allowed to wish, am I?"

Ino hugged the girl again, giving her a warm smile. Hanabi giggled at that. "Yeah Ino, stop the teasing. I did that enough to her already." she stuck her tongue out at the blonde girl. "And I do know what he has as present. I helped him to choose it after all. And to buy it..." her voice trailed off for a moment, remembering how the shop wanted to kick Naruto out and not sell him anything. Like basicly every other shop in the village.

"Hey, don't be so down. It's Hinata-chans birthday, so cheer up!" Ino exclaimed happily. "It's nearly time to start the party anyway, so the boys should be here any second as well. You don't want them to see you all depressed, right?" she grinned at both sisters nodding in union again.

True to her words did the invited boys arrive five minutes later, all giving Hinata their best wishes and placing the presents next to the others. Shikamaru and Chouji simply shook her hand while doing so, Naruto however gave Hinata a big bear hug while grinning at her, casting another blush on her face.

After sharing the welcomes and a bit smalltalk between them did they sat half an hour later at the table in the center eating. "It's totally delicious!" Chouji said between eating. "Thank you so much for inviting me, Hinata."

The sisters were looking at him amazed. They heard about his appetite from Ino, but seeing it in reality was something totally different. "And I thought Naruto would have a big appetite, even if it's just for ramen..." Hanabi said out loud, getting a mixed reaction to that statement.

"Well, I'm surprised every time anew, to be honest." Ino admitted. "Especially because I haven't seen him much lately. If you invite him do you need enough food."

"But I think we should be covered, right?" Hinata asked, looking over her shoulder to watch at all the stuff Teuchi brought, just to pale slightly. "How... how did more than half of it already got eaten?" Everyone turned towards Chouji, who simply continued to eat, shrugging his shoulders.

"Troublesome..." Shikamaru muttered. "Better get your share before there is none left. And hide the cake if you want to eat it together later."

Hearing that statement did Chouji stop eating for a moment. "You mean... the cake isn't for dessert?"

Hinata couldn't help but giggle at that while Ino palmed her face and Hanabi let her head drop down on the table. "Well, I wouldn't mind as long as you leave a piece for everyone of us to eat later, Chouji." she smiled at Chouji who nodded.

"Ah, sure thing. After all, eating is more fun if everyone gets to enjoy the food. You are the best Hinata!" he answered happily before continueing to eat.

"So... how's the training doing?" Shikamaru asked lazily, adressing noone in particular but getting looks from the sisters and Naruto. "What? Since Chouji is still eating I thought why not talking a bit before we continue with the celebration?" he shrugged.

Naruto shrugged himself, looking towards Hinata who nodded slightly. "Fair enough I guess. I'm still having trouble with the staff. You won't believe how hard it is to handle. Besides, it is a bit too long for me right now, so maybe it gets better once I've grown a little." he avoided to mention the advanced moves, just in case. Hinata appologized to him, but still...

"Well, I think I'm progressing." Hinata said next. "I got a grasp for my water element and understood how it's working. I can form up bubbles already and hold them together and floating while I concentrate on it." a small smile entered her face.

Naruto made the mistake to add to that statement. "Yeah, and she can even do it with other liquids..."

The look he got from Hinata for that made him flinch and cover on his chair, surprising Ino and Shikamaru a little. Their surprise increased when Hinata got a disappointed look from Hanabi and let her head hang. Chouji didn't reacted to that. He was still occupied with his food.

The looks went towards Hanabi who simply sighed. "I don't want to talk about it..."

"Still no progress, huh?" Ino asked her friend who just shook her head.

"It's frustrating, you know? I'm not even able to figure out what I'm doing wrong. I wonder if I might have entered Academy too early... if all this 'she is so talented' talk are just fake or something..." she sighed again.

Shikamaru thought about it for a moment. "Maybe your approach is just not suited for you? Just thinking..." he shrugged. "Troublesome."

"It's the same as cooking." Chouji said, surprising everyone and all heads turned towards him. "You need to consider the ingredients you are using. Rice isn't just rice, two potatoes can be completely different and so on. It's the same with using the earth. The ground is different everywhere and you need to consider about the ingredients of it to fully understand what you are using. Stones, rocks, mud, soil, how much you have and what you need to add differs everywhere."

After that was the room silent, except for the eating sounds Chouji made. It took a whole minute before Ino shook her head. "Did he just... compare using earth chakra with cooking? I know he's all about eating, but that's..." she wasn't able to finish that sentence.

"...maybe a good way to look at it." Hanabi mumbled, getting the looks of the others now. "What do I have to loose?" she shrugged. "Might as well take his idea into consideration and try to work with it. It's not like I would make much progress anyway." a small smile entered her face. "Thanks Chouji."

Finally finishing his meal did he look at Hanabi. "No problem. But... for what are you thanking me?"

Two heads hit the table and another three facepalmed themselfs. "That's so typical for you, Chouji..." Ino said in disbelief while Shikamaru simply added a "Troublesome."

"Are we going to share the cake now?" he simply asked, getting a nod from Hinata. He took so long eating that everyone else was good to go with their piece of cake already.

Just a short while later was the cake gone with Chouji and Naruto having eaten most of the pieces. However, both were gentlemen enough to offer the last piece to Hinata who accepted it with a slight blush on her face. She didn't want to be seen as a glutton or something, but the cake was just too good.

"That cake really was something. Please say thanks to your mom from us all, Ino." Hinata smiled happyly at her friend who confirmed that request. "Okay, and now? Hanabi, you planned everything, so... what are we going to do now?" tilting her head to the side did she watch her sister.

"Well... now that we are full with delicious food are we going to get to your fun part and after that to the fun part for all of us. Or, to simply name it: now it's time for you to unpack your presents and then are we going to enjoy the party!" Hanabi stood up while talking and was bouncing slightly up and down on her feet, smiling at everyone.

Hinata looked at her sister before at every other person inside the room. "If it's okay for you, I guess..." she said quietly, a bit embarassed. It was her first birthday party with friends and all the other years did she open her few presents while being alone in her room. After getting confirming nods from everyone did she stood up and walked over towards the table the presents were located.

Hanabi got an evil smirk on her face, adressing her sister. "Okay sis, there are some rules for your presents." everyone else looked confused at Hanabi beside of Hinata who simply nodded. "It's pretty simple, really. My present will be the last for you to open and the one from Naruto is the second last. The others are free for you to choose."

Smiling at her sister did Hinata nod. "Okay, got it. Since you prepared everything and do know what is inside do I guess that these two are big surprises, right?" she giggled seeing the slight twitch at Hanabi's eye. "Don't be surprised. You knew my questions before I voiced them. That also works the other way around, you know?" she stuck her tongue out at her younger sister, something everyone was surprised of.

Hanabi crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. She wanted to tease her sister again, not being the one to receive the teasing. All the while did Hinata check the different presents to know which was from whom. Deciding to start with the one from Chouji, which apparently was also the biggest of the presents, was she carefully opening the paper wrapped around it.

Once the paper was gone was there a box reveiled filled with... "That's so typical for you again, Chouji..." Ino shook her head, seeing the present.

Chouji shrugged. "I was thinking about what I would like to get and prepared a similiar present for Hinata here."

Hinata was checking the contents of the box carefully. It was filled with all kinds of different snacks and tasty, preserved food paired with some sweets in between. "Thank you, Chouji. That's a real nice present. I don't need to worry about having something to snack for the next two months now." she smiled honestly at him.

Chouji smiled back at her but spoke up slightly in confusion. "Two months? That's not even enough for two days if you ask me. But as long as you are happy with it. There are some of my favorites inside as well and I hope you like them too."

"I'm sure I will." she got over to him to give him a short hug before she focused back on the presents, picking up the one from Shikamaru. She could guess what might be inside, considering the present had the typical size of a book, but considering how many different exist...

She opened the present again carefully, reveiling a book which wasn't that big surprise right now. "Let's see... 'Chakra Control and Elements', no author?" she read out loud, watching towards Shikamaru.

"It's from our clan's library." he said lazily. "My dad gave permission to gift it to you. It's about our clan's way of working with chakra and has also some references to elemental chakra, even if we don't use it. I thought it would be a matching present, considering that you like to read and are currently working on your water affinity." he shrugged.

Hinata hugged him as well, smiling brightly. "Thank you so much, Shikamaru. I'm sure it will help a lot. And maybe it can also help Hanabi with her problem. Thanks."

"Don't remind me right now..." Hanabi was grumbling, getting some amused looks from the others.

Focusing back on the presents did Hinata pick the next one up. "Alright, let's see what I got from Ino." Carefully unwrapping Ino's present did she get quiet the moment she saw the content, before letting out a cute sound. "Ino, is this... it's so cute!"

Ino grinned from ear to ear. "Yes, this is a female match for the fox I got you back then. Thought he might be lonely." she wasn't quick enough to react when Hinata suddenly jumped at her, hugging her tightly and forcing them both to the ground with that motion.

"Girls... so troublesome..." Shikamaru said quietly, shaking his head. However, being friends with Ino from early childhood and being friends with the Hyuga's for quite some time now got him slowly used to these reactions.

Naruto couldn't help but grinning. "If she is jumping Ino-chan for that fox... okay, it really is cute and all, but... what will she do with me?" he pondered aloud, getting a giggle from Hanabi and a blush from Hinata who got down from Ino and helped her standing up.

"Uhm... yeah... thanks Ino. I will introduce them to each other later." Hinata was a bit embarassed by what she just did. Glancing towards Naruto for a moment did she focus back on the presents, picking up the one from him.

It was the smallest of the presents and she carefully unwrapped it as well, reaching a small black box. Opening it slowly did her eyes went wide when she saw the content of it. "Is that..." her voice trailed off and everyone else took an intrested look with the reactions reaching from surprise to jealousy.

"I guess the answer to your question is a yes." Naruto said smiling, picking up the small silver bracelet and placing it around Hinata's wrist. "Hanabi-chan helped me deciding and bought it in my place. Hope you like it." he said bashfully, scratching the back of his head.

Hinata raised her hand and inspected the bracelet carefully, focusing on the small pendant attached to it in form of a small kitty paw print. "It's... totally beautiful. Thank you so much, Naruto-kun. I..." she blushed a crimson red and looked towards her sister for a moment who simply grinned and gave a small comfirming nod.

Nodding in return herself did a small smile enter her lips and she walked to Naruto, giving him a quick kiss on his cheek. "Thank you so much. I'll treasure it forever. This means a lot to me." both were looking at each other with affection and the others surrounding them simply watched, not wanting to interrupt.

"I can't believe that Naruto really did that... but he had help from Hanabi-chan. Oh, this is real good gossip." Ino mumbled to herself, grinning from ear to ear.

Outside the storeroom

"You really want to do that? I mean, considering who you are and who they are and these things. Just saying." Kakashi shrugged, leaning at the wall of the building lazily.

"If not today, when should I?" C asked in return. "I'm sure they forgave me and I so want to see them again. They hit something deep inside me, you know? And it's the birthday of one of them, so what better time I could ask for?"

"I see your point, I really do. But you do remember that you were kidnapping them, trying to sell them as slaves, right? It isn't known inside the village, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen." being responsible for the actions of their former enemy might become troublesome if something would happen the moment they meet again and Kakashi knew that.

Letting his head hang for a moment did C nod. "I know that. But do you remember that I let you find me on purpose just that I could be here today? When I heard of her birthday did I decide to come out of hiding. I even gave you all the informations you wanted willingly to show my good will."

Taking a book out of his bag did Kakashi start to read. "Your decision. But don't blame me if something happens or say I didn't warn you. I'll be right here if something might be the matter. But don't forget, you are under surveillance by ANBU. Any hostile action will be responded to right away."

C sighed. "I know that. Hell, I'm telling you, all I want is to see them again. I won't try anything funny and I will not attack anyone. Am not crazy or something..." he shook his head. "Well, I'm going inside. Later, Spooky."

Kakashi sighed while C aimed for the door. "Why does this new name need to stick around? I really start to miss the old Cyclops..." he said to himself, never stopping to read.

Inside the storeroom

Everyone was silent, staring at the present Hinata opened last, at the object she was holding in her hands right now. The expressions ranged from confusion over shock and disgust to embarassesment. The object was beautiful and masterly crafted, but it was an object no normal person wanted to see, own or just knowing around.

Hinata was holding a black leather collar. The material was highest quality and on the side was the image of a kitten playing in a flower field etched into the leather. At the front was a tag in form of a kitty paw hanging from the ring, though it was blank with no name on it.

Hanabi had a hard time holding in her giggles. She knew it was risky giving her that present during the party she planned, but she wanted to find out how her sister, or more precisely her slave at this moment, would react in such a situation. In a situation that could turn ugly quickly, if someone would pick up the meaning of this, if someone would realize her as a slave.

The room was silent for five minutes by now, nobody even moved at all. Finally did Hinata shake her head to get out of the daze, a smile entering her face confusing the others even more. "It's beautiful, Hanabi. Really, thank you so much. This will be a nice addition to my collection!" she exclaimed happily, signs of red visible on her cheeks.

"WHAT!?" every guest shouted at once, their looks switching between both sisters, not knowing what was going on.

"You... have a collection of collars?" Ino asked sceptically, raising an eyebrow at her friend. "I mean, I heard of a lot of strange things to collect, but... collars?"

"Uhu." Hinata hummed out. "I'm collecting collars. I got the first one right after Academy started, you know? I found it on the battlefield we went to with Naruto-kun. Where we..." she didn't finish that sentence, knowing that everyone else was aware of what happened there. Her facecolour changed to a bright red with every passing second, being embarassed to talk that out loud.

Hanabi smiled to herself. 'That was a nice save, sis. I was worried for a moment, but you managed it. Beside, I guess it isn't even a lie, considering you really have that other collar from back then.' she thought to herself, thinking about a way to reward her girl later.

"Anyway..." Hinata's voice got a pitch higher by now. "This is now the third one in my collection." she admitted, her face crimson red by now. She felt uncomfortable talking about it.

"WHAT!?" it was Hanabi shouting out this time. "Your... third? I... you... I..." she was getting confused looks, stammering around. "I thought it's only the second? Where and when did you get the third?" she was staring at her sister in disbelief. That was something she wasn't expecting.

"Uhm..." Hinata looked at the ground. "I'll tell and show you later?" she asked shyly, not daring to look her sister into her eyes right now.

"Okay... I guess..." Hanabi confirmed, nodding slightly.

The others were simply observing the scene, not knowing what to do right now, so they didn't interrupt. "Now that does look like a masterpiece to me." a voice from the door did the interruption and all heads turned in that direction, where a blond man just entered the storeroom.

Three of them were looking at that man in confusion, never having seen him before. Two of them were looking at him in disbelief and surprise, remembering the face quite well. The last one however...

"YOU!" Naruto shouted loudly, pointing his finger at the newcomer. "I won't let you lay your fingers on my friends again. I won't let you kidnap them again. I won't let you hurt them! You will pay! Believe it!" he exclaimed angrily, drawing the staff segments from the holder on his leg and putting them together while already charging at the newcomer.

"Dammit... I totally forgot about the boy..." C grumbled while backing away and out of the door again, back on the street with Naruto following him.

"Don't!" Hinata shouted. "Please stop, Naruto-kun!" but it was no use. Naruto wasn't listening and following C out of the building.

Shikamaru shook his head. "Troublesome. So the rumours are true, huh? I thought as much, but now did you confirm it."

Hinata let her head hang, something she did quite often lately though she didn't really paid much attention to it. Hanabi simply sighed and dropped down on a chair, not caring much for her surroundings now. He really was in town. She wasn't paranoid. Or was she? She didn't knew.

It was Ino who answered Shikamaru's question. "Yeah, they are. Hanabi-chan told me some days ago... she broke down under the emotions and experiences..." she sighed as well. "What shall we do now?"

"I have no idea, Ino. Maybe you should try to comfort them? I'm not too good with girls as you know... so troublesome..."

Outside, on the street

"You knew that would happen, right?" C shouted towards Kakashi once he left the building while still backing away from the furious Naruto following him.

Kakashi didn't care to look up and simply continued reading. "Well, I think I told you it's your decision. But, honestly, the odds were good on that to happen eventually, yes. Now remember, you are under surveillance. Any hostile action will be punished and if you haven't noticed so far, Cat-san is on duty currently."

It was that moment that Naruto came out of the door, his staff already good to go, one segment loosened from the others. He was swinging it like a morning star beside him, still running towards C. "I'll get you this time! You will never again lay a hand on my friends or anyone else!" he shouted furiously.

The civillians around cleared the street quickly once they realized what was happening, leaving a big enough area for C to back away, dodge and avoid Naruto. Cursing to himself did he pull card after card out from his sleeve in quick order, discarding them all right away to pull the next one.

Only after a few seconds were several dozen picture cards laying around on the streets, not a single number. "Damned, that can't be. I'm having so many decks with me, why am I not getting the picture I need right now?" discarding even more cards to the ground was he getting nervous. That was the first time he had problems drawing what he was looking for. "Where is this damned jack of hearts? It's the only non lethal picture effect I own..."

While he was struggling to find the card that he could use to paralyze Naruto was said one finally in range to launch his attacks, starting with a straight one out of the morning star rotation which C managed to sidestep. Next was a stroke from left to right over which he was able to jump.

Naruto however smiled at that and quickly attached the loose end on the middle segment and detached the last segment that, now loose, aimed straight on C's legs again which were currently landing. The quick switch between segments was something Naruto was training the last days and it seemed to work. With the momentum of the movement was the now loose segment moving in the right direction and his opponent, currently midair, unable to dodge.

C hissed in pain when the segment hit his knee directly and he quickly jumped at distance once he was back on the ground. Naruto, spurred on by his hit, was already charging at C again. "That's no good... can't be helped." C grumbled to himself and went quickly through a set of signs. "Card Tricks: Wall of Clubs!" was all he shouted and all club cards laying around together with even more that appeared out of different pockets and hiding places formed a floating wall to block Naruto's strikes.

"That's not fair, you... coward!" Naruto shouted and did several hits on the wall of cards. When he realized that it had no real effect did he try to run around it but C anticipated that and moved the wall as well, trying to have it between them both.

"Calm down. I'm not here to fight or to hurt anyone." he tried to reason with Naruto, who in return simply grunted and continued his assault. "Dammit... Hey, Copycat! Would you mind lending me a hand to solve this misunderstanding?" he shouted towards Kakashi who had his eyes still in his book, not paying any attention.

He had to admit that Naruto's attacks were actually pretty strong, though he guessed that the staff must been top quality. Nevertheless did he get problems holding his wall against all these strikes with several cards already laying around on the ground. He tried to think of a way to get out of this situation but had trouble to find a solution that doesn't involved killing this boy, which he don't wanted to do.

Naruto's grin got wider and wider with every card that fell to the ground. With every moment he got closer to the person who caused him and his friends so much problems. He was so in rage that he wasn't even trying to do any moves with his staff. All he did was swinging the one loosened segment from left to right, from top to bottom and backwards to hit the wall in front of him.

While they were busy with each other was a loud shout be heard from across the street. "YOU!" both were looking towards the direction the voice came from. "You are the one that got in my way last time! You are the one responsible for the worst week of my life!" a boy shouted while running straight towards C, his hands kinda claw-like and his canines showing.

"What? I don't know you nor have I ever seen you before!" C responded confused, trying to come up with a solution quickly. He couldn't defend against two maniacs without fighting for real.

"Don't play dumb! I remember your face and hair. You got in my way when I aimed to get my revenge on this arrogant Hanabi!" Kiba shouted back, his speed increasing a bit more, quickly nearing his target.

Naruto started laughing. "Nice timing, Kiba. I don't know your reason, but together will we be able to beat him up good." his grin turned into an evil smirk seeing the panic in the face of C.

Kakashi was finally looking up from his book, watching the scene. "Hmm... the Inuzuka was unexpected. Guess I should stop them before something serious happens..." he pondered aloud, putting his book back into his pocket.

"I don't know. I would love to see him do something stupid. That would mean I could do my job." Cat said, sitting on the roof above Kakashi. "He's an enemy after all."

Realizing that he had no options left, no matter what he would do now, it would have consequences for him, he decided on his last defense. A move he only used when he was cornered with no way out. His ultimate defense, his... "Card Tricks: House of Cards!" he shouted after going through a long set of signs in lightning speed.

All cards laying on the ground and all cards still hidden inside his clothes appeared suddenly around him, forming a bunker like object that completely covered him in all directions against all attacks. "Alright, you won, I give up. Could we please talk now?" he asked desperate through the wall of cards. "I already said it, I'm not here to fight at all."

Naruto stopped his attacks, thinking about that. Kiba however still charged and started clawing and biting at the cards, desperate to get through to his target, to the man that ruined him his revenge and the whole week.

"And for you, you do look like an Inuzuka, right? Now act like one. Do I smell like the one you hate so much?" he asked towards the wall of his bunker where he could hear the boy trying to get through to him.

Kiba stopped for a moment, sniffing the air. "I... guess not..." he said quietly, stopping his relentless attack completely now.

C sighed in relief. "Okay, now that you two calmed down a bit am I going to come out." he said and went through another set of signs. "Card Tricks: Card Return." he said and all cards still intact flew back to him, forming complete decks he could store away at his different hiding places within his clothes.

However, glancing around the street did he sigh again. "So many of them are destroyed and useless... You two really are something." he shook his head. "Guess now do I need to find out if the store is really able to supply me with them..."

"Alright, now that you are done fighting..." Kakashi lazyly strolled towards the three persons standing in the middle of the street. "...would I suggest that youall should leave now. Naruto, I'm sure the girls are missing you inside already. Inuzuka, you should go home or anywhere else. I'm sure you don't want your mother to know about this, right? And C..." he shook his head. "I would say you saw them and should leave them alone for now. Unless you want some emotions to put you in another bad situation right away?"

"But, but, but..." Naruto stuttered, pointing towards C. "That's one of the people who kidnapped us. Why is he still alive anyway? You fought him back then, right?" he looked confused between Kakashi and C, not sure what to make out of this situation.

Kakashi sighed at that. "Just go inside. Yes, he is still alive and he does have a right to be here currently. You don't need to know more. Now move, get back to the party."

Naruto was grumbling but walked back towards the storeroom. Kakashi did have a point about the girls missing and probably even worrying about him. Kiba on the other side stood simply on the street, his jaw open, not sure what he should do with what he just learned.

"Was I that hard to understand? I think I told you to leave, Inuzuka." Kakashi said again, looking at Kiba.

"He... they..." Kiba pointed towards C and then in the direction Naruto left. "The rumours are true?"

"And if you make that public might something happen to you even worse to what your mother did last time. Understood?" Kakashi asked with ice in his voice, leveling his gaze on Kiba who simple shrunk by that threat and quickly left the place.

C was inspecting his destroyed cards but listened to everything that was spoken just now. "I get that it wasn't a good idea to come here. But still, both boys do have some strength. Destroying that much of my cards..." he shook his head. "Am leaving as well. There's a weapon shop I need to negotiate with for re-supplying." and with these words was he leaving as well.

Kakashi simply shrugged and pulled his book out of his pocket and walked away in another direction. He figured that there was no need to be around C anymore for that day. Beside, he knew that Cat would be following him as ordered to keep him under surveillance.

Back inside

The mood in the room was pretty down when Naruto came back inside. He figured that his outburst must be the reason for it. "Uhm... sorry..." he said quietly, scratching the back of his head. "My temper got the best of me just now..."

"It's okay I guess..." Hanabi said quietly in return. "I mean, I can't blame you. Though..." pointing towards their friends. "They do know now."

Naruto smiled bashfully at that comment. "Even worse. Dogboy does know now too. He appeared out of nowhere, attacking as well, shouting something about that C guy getting in his way when he tried to get revenge on you."

Letting her head hang did Hanabi sigh. "He must have meant the situation for which he got beaten up by his mom. There was someone looking like him that got in the way of his surprise attack on me..."

The others were listening to the conversation and Ino bit her lip. "I can asure you that we won't be telling anyone. Shika is too lazy for that and Chouji doesn't care if it's not food. And I'm not crazy enough to gossip about such a topic. But if Kiba does know now..." she tried to cheer them up a little but had to shrug helplessly at her last comment.

Hinata looked at everyone with a slightly disturbed look before adressing Naruto. "So... how did it end out there, Naruto-kun?" she asked quietly.

"Huh? You mean the... fight?" he rubbed the back of his neck. "You see, he was only defending against my rage. Pulled out dozens of cards to block my staff and hid away in a bunker created by cards when Kiba appeared too. Once we calmed down did he get out again and Spooky appeared, telling that C has a right to be in the village before sending everyone away..."

There was a small smile entering Hanabi's lips. "At least am I not paranoid if he really is here at the village." she shook her head. "Anyway... I would say to continue the party, but I guess the mood got killed, huh? Sorry sis, but seems like I failed that one."

"Don't worry about it. I had a fun day so far and was able to celebrate with my friends. That's more than I could hope for." Hinata smiled slightly. "But maybe we should call it over for today?" looking towards her guests did she get confirming nods. After what happened and the revalations was there no real motivation left for the party.

After everyone said the farewells to the others did the group split up and everyone walked their seperate ways. It was agreed on that they would clean the room the next day and the sisters were to meet with Ino to do so. Hanabi was helping her sister carrying the presents home. They simply put everything in the bigger box from Chouji and carried them together.

Weapon shop

C walked towards the counter where the young girl was standing behind it like usual. He only met the owner once because the girl was at the Academy that time, but beside of that did it seem like she was working here all of her free time. "Hello again, Tenten-chan." he greeted her with a smile.

"Oh, you again? I wasn't expecting you within just one week. You are more or less on a three-week-turnus." she smiled back at him. "What are you looking for this time?"

Both had a similiar smile on their faces, knowing quite well that his purchases so far were across a wide variety of supplies and didn't really made sense. No shinobi buying a katana would care to buy staff restoration supplies the next time followed by paint for drawing seals the third time.

"Ah, well, I'm not entirely sure yet." he shrugged his shoulders. "But I would like to ask you a question before we get to business." looking around the shop to make sure that nobody was around and listening did he lean over the counter, speaking quietly. "You made this beautiful collar for the little one, right? I got a quick look on it today and the way it was carefully created did remind me on the leather work here. That's why she was here last week as well, right? When she nearly bumped into me."

Tenten was smiling from ear to ear when she answered. "It's beautiful, isn't it? She even sold me the plans for the design. Want one too?"

Thinking about that for a moment was C watching into Tenten's brightly shining eyes. He saw these eyes already when the girl was talking about weapons. She must be really into these two topics. "Tempting, but I have to decline for now." he looked on Tenten's face which had disappointment written all over it before C continued. "But I would like to talk about something special as well."

Her eyes looked him over curiously. "Something special? You want something custom made and were checking if we could provide the needed quality, right?" the smile came slowly back onto her face.

"You have a keen eye for your customers, girl. I'll give you that." he pulled out one of his card decks and placed it on the counter. "But I wonder how accurate you are with things you aren't used to. Would you please take a look on these?"

"Playing cards?" Tenten asked confused but picked them up anyway, examining them. "They aren't ordinary. Each one is created infusing some chakra into them." she was flipping through the cards. "And on each card are at least two different seals which do vary from card to card as well. I haven't seen anything like that before." placing the cards back on the counter did she finish her examination, looking at C awaiting his request.

He blinked his eyes a few times before finally speaking. "Okay, wow. You just flipped through them and could tell all that? Impressive. I mean it." giving her a warm smile did he continue. "These are my weapons of choice. But I recently lost a lot of them during a fight and I'm looking for a place that could supply me with new ones frequently. Your knowledge is quite good and the quality of the things created here is high. Think you can replicate them?"

Tenten crossed her arms over her chest and thought about it for a while, considering what she can do, what the owner of the shop can do, and what might need to be done to create a card like that. After all were they primary working with metal, wood and leather, not with paper. C watched her patiently, waiting for her response. After a minute did she shook her head and snatch a single card, walking into the backroom without saying a word. He figured that the forge might be in that direction or that the owner was back there.

It took another 5 minutes before she came back with an expression on her face that was hard to read. "It's tricky..." she said quietly. "The seals wouldn't be a problem. As long as you got a way to activate them precisely that is." gaining a nod from C did she continue. "The main problem is the material used for the cards. Using normal or sealing paper won't work cause it would make the cards too soft. Creating own paper using wood as a base is too time consuming on the other side. Any chance you can tell us where you got them til now?"

"Not without bringing you in trouble by telling you things about a group that doesn't like to be known about. Plus they most likely created them using illegal ways." he answered honestly, getting a nod from Tenten.

"I... see. And it doesn't have anything to do with why you know Hanabi Hyuga and are intrested in the collar she ordered." C wasn't reacting to that, bringing a smile on Tenten's face. "Thought as much. I don't mind, don't worry. Anyway, the best we can offer is a long process of try and error trying to replicate your cards in which we would need to include you as well to give us feedback directly. If that's okay?" she tilted her head to the side.

C took a moment to think about it before nodding. "Sure, that's fine. Considering I can't get replacements anymore is this the best right now. Beside it would give me something to kill time over the next monthes. We do have a deal, girlie."

Hyuga Compound, Hinata's room

The girls put the box down on Hinata's desk and Hanabi walked over to her sisters bed, sitting down on it while Hinata walked over to her shelf, clearing a whole board on eye high. "That was a day... sorry your party had to end that way." Hanabi said with a bit sadness in her voice, laying down on her sisters bed and watching her work.

Hinata shook her head while rummaging in the box, pulling out the collar and fox plush she got today. "It's okay, Hanabi, really. I had a fun day and am super thankful that you went through all the trouble of preparing it." she placed the collar prominent in the middle of the freed shelf and the female fox at it's right side before walking over to her bed to pick up the male fox plush and placing it on the left side of the collar.

Hanabi was watching in silence while her sister was working on decorating the shelf. To say she was surprised might be an understatement just now. 'Is she really... going to go with her excuse she came up today? That this would be an addition to her collection and is now showcasing it as well?' she thought to herself, while Hinata pulled her secret box out of it's hiding place, setting it down on her desk as well.

After opening it did she pull out the damaged collar she found back then on their first adventure, which she picked up out of a mood as a souvenir. Or at least were these her words back then. She placed the damaged collar on the left side, next to the male fox plush. Next did she pick up the second collar from the box, one that caught Hanabi's eyes. That collar was good quality and basicly brand new, that much was she able to tell from the slight distance.

While Hinata was placing that one on the right side, next to the female fox plush, was Hanabi getting up from the bed, coming close to the shelf, watching intrested. "So you really have three now, huh sis?" she asked curiously. "Where did you get that one?"

Finally reaching the shelf did she look at her sister who was blushing now and looking away, not answering at all. Shrugging her shoulders did she turn towards the shelf, inspecting the third collar herself. Her eyes went wide when she realized which collar that was, or more precisely when her eyes fell on the carefully engraved name tag. She knew that name quite well. After all was it her own name. And she could remember only one collar having her own name engraved on it...

Hinata was starting to stammer some apologize when Hanabi turned towards her, a mixed expression on her face. However, the tried apologize never made it beyond a stammer and stutter.

"Alright... calm down sis, and then explain to me. I'm curious to know why you have that one..." Hanabi spoke quietly and calm. There was anger on the inside though.

Taking a few deep breaths was Hinata trying to do just that, to calm down. It took her a while before she finally was able to speak. "Uhm, well, you see..." she shook her head to get it clear. "When we were out in the ruins haven't I found any kind of souvenir cause it was totally empty. And after what happened... well... I still wanted to bring a souvenir back. And it was yours. Meaning I have something from you to treasure, something from you in my collection..." she tried to smile a bit.

Hanabi was watching her sister carefully, deep in thought, before she finally spoke up. "And why haven't you taken the one you got?"

Putting her fingers together and blushing was Hinata searching for the right words. "Well, because... uhm... because that was a collar I haven't gotten from you..." she said quietly. "It wouldn't be okay to keep that one. That would be like... betraying you." her voice faded to a small whisper, barely hearable, but Hanabi was still able to hear it.

"That's..." now it was Hanabi's turn to search for the matching words. She decided on simply hugging her sister, whispering into her ear. "I understand that. Good girl. Don't worry, I'm not mad at you."

Hearing these words did Hinata slightly smile, hugging her sister back. She felt good right now. Save and secure, a feeling she would always treasure, that much she knew.

"However, there is one thing I want to correct." she continued saying. Hinata was pulling away a little from her sister to look her in the face, confusion writing across her own. "Ah, don't worry sis. It's nothing major."

Hanabi was smiling honestly at her sister, while she reached out to pick up the middle collar Hinata just placed in her shelf. Seeing this movement did Hinata's eye widen for a short moment before she was relaxing. She knew that this day would come and she accepted it some time ago already. In fact did she decide that she wanted to go thank C properly, now that she knew he was inside the village. After all was he the person who made her understand.

"See, all done." Hanabi said gently, smiling at her sister who blinked her eyes a few times. She was deep in thought and hadn't realized that the collar was placed around her neck. She brought her fingers up, feeling the collar she was now wearing, tracing over it.

A small tear formed in the corner of Hinata's eye and she tightly hugged her sister, no, right now her mistress. "Thank you, mistress. It's so pretty. Thank you so much." speaking quietly, trying to not cry in joy.

"It's alright. This one is yours and yours only. And you are mine. That's how it is supposed to be, is it not? And for the finishing touch..." Hanabi was whispering into her sisters ear while taking the blank name tag between her fingers. She concentrated a bit of chakra into it and whispered a single word. "Hinata."

The name tag glowed for a short moment and both girls looked down in surprise. Once the shine faded was Hinata's name written on the tag in an elegant and precise way. "How did you...?" Hinata asked in surprise, curiousity getting the best of her.

Hanabi seemed as surprised as her sister. "There was a note with the collar, stating that one single seal was placed in the name tag for simple marking. But I hadn't expected such a reaction." she said awestruck. "Wasn't that glow beautiful?"

"Yes, it was." Hinata nodded her head. "And I think it was a nice addition to the moment." she smiled brightly.

Smiling herself did Hanabi look into Hinata's eyes, adressing her with the tone she worked on for months now, singnaling her sister that there was no talking back now. "I want you to sleep with your new collar on. And tomorrow morning will you tell me how you feel with it on. If it's comfortable and such but also your emotions. Understood?"

Hinata smiled back and nodded her head. "Understood, mistress."


	15. Chapter 14 - A Collar for a Title

_**C's Scouting Report: Hinata's Collar Collection**_

"Ah, dammit, I blew my cover myself, didn't I? The evil boss lady lured me into doing so by ordering me to share the informations about me, I'm sure of that. Well, can't be helped now that it already happened. Alright, moving on. What is today's topic?

Hinata's Collar Collection? Is she serious? Does she really want everyone to know about her twisted mind? Whatever, I'll comply with these orders. And we are again back at "Chapter 4: Adventure!" where Hinata found and picked up her very first collar. The basic idea behind her finding a collar was to show that slavery isn't the rarest thing in this version of the universe. The secondary idea behind it was to slightly push her in the direction of accepting her new role, by confronting her with things related to slaves in one or another way over and over. Sometimes subtle, sometimes obvious, sometimes, well, you get the point, right?

After that chapter was done was an idea creeping into her mind, that there was a lot of possibilities based on this one collar she found. It ranged from 'just drop the idea and leave that single collar alone' over 'make it a running gag that she somehow stumbles upon a collar from time to time' up to 'let her start collecting them and get funny looks from her friends'. She even pointed it out as 'having a silly idea she would like to speak about' but nobody ever took her up on that offer and she was about to drop the whole idea completely.

Some weeks passed and she mentioned it on a sidenote to someone she talked about her story who suddenly got totally intrested by that idea and they were discussing it, tossing around ideas and ways to perform them and, well, as you might have noticed if you made it this far, she decided to go with the collection thing. I'm just not sure what she is planning to do with that from now on. I mean, seriously?  
Sure, it isn't uncommon for people to collect strange things. But collars? With names written on them? Not to mention their own? And then openly showcasing them? I'll stick with my opinion, that woman is totally crazy..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 14: A Collar for a useful Chapter Title  
**

It was cold. That was the first thing Hinata noticed, followed by the goose bumps she had all over her body because of that. That's why she tried to move her body, to warm herself up, but was unable to do so, which she couldn't explain right now. So she carefully watched around her. She was in the middle of a small room without any kind of windows and without furniture. Only in front of her was a door in the wall, except for that was there nothing.

But even that seemed someway odd to her. It was cold, she was in a room she never saw before and the door in front of her seemed to be... huge. Or, more precisely, the angle she was looking at the door was somehow wrong. Like she would look from a position way too low at it. Realizing that this must be the case was she trying to look down her own body, to figure out if she was the reason for at least this angle of view she had.

She was right with her guess. She was the source for this low angle because she was down on her hands and knees. Having figured out the first mystery was she still unsure why she was unable to move. She couldn't feel anything that might be restraining her or hold her in any other way. In fact was she feeling nothing beside the coldness and the collar her mistress put around her neck before going to sleep. The collar she got from her mistress for her 10th birthday. The collar she would cheerish for as long as she could.

The collar... the only thing she could feel beside of the coldness. That was the moment when she figured why she must be cold. It was because she was completely naked, down on her hands and knees, only wearing her collar. Her brain was working overtime to come up with any reason for her situation. The things she figured out only added new questions and she started to panic. Where was she? And when? And how did she got there? And why was she unable to move?

Helpless. That was the word appearing the most in her mind. She was helpless right now and she didn't even knew why! At that moment was the door opening and a shadowy figure could be seen, illuminated by a light source somewhere on the other side of the door.

"Well, look at this cute puppy we have here. It's quite the sight, don't you agree?" a male voice said, bringing a deep crimson blush on Hinata's face. The voice got answered by a confirming bark from a dog she wasn't able to see anywhere.

"Huh, what did you say? Yeah, you are right. That puppy isn't trained yet and still needs to wear it's collar. It's nowhere near your manners and talent, partner." the voice spoke again, confusing Hinata totally. Why was the voice talking about her like she was some kind of a dog? Why did the voice sound so familiar? Why was she unable to reply? Wait... unable to reply? She tried to speak, but that didn't work at all, just like her tries to move.

"But I got a great idea, partner. Why aren't we going to train that puppy?" the confirming bark came within a split second and the figure made a step into the room.

Hinata's eyes went wide in panic and fear, her breath and heart were racing, she was sweating all over her body. Raising her hand was she grabbing her chest right where her heart is, trying to breath deeply and calm down. Wait, she was moving her arm? Looking down her body did she realize that she indeed did just that. And that she was wearing her night wear, sitting upright in her bed.

Taking a look at her surroundings did she confirm that she indeed was in her room. And judging by the darkness was it still late at night. She figured she must have been awaken from a nightmare right now.

Once she calmed down a little was her hand moving upwards, feeling the collar around her neck. Right, that collar was supposed to be there. These were the orders of her mistress, to wear it for the night and to tell her how she feels in the morning. At least that was how it should be. But she couldn't make anything out of the nightmare she just had.

10 minutes passed in which she simply sat upright in her bed. All she did was breathing and nothing more, fearing to go back to sleep and that this nightmare might continue. Trying to distract herself did she move her thoughts towards the things she and her sister used to do back in the days when they had nightmares and decided to do just that.

Picking up her pillow was she getting out of bed and leaving her room, sneaking across the floor to her sisters room. She carefully opened it to not make any noises and slipped inside, walking over to her sisters bed where she was sleeping peacefully.

Once she sat down on the edge of the bed was Hanabi moving around slightly, registering the additional movement in her bed. Not really awake at all and still sleeping was her body merely reacting on instinct. "Hhmmm?" her body hummed out between breathes, basicly asking the reason for the disturbance.

Hinata laid her pillow down and snuggled up close to her sister, closing her eyes before whispering into Hanabi's ear. "Bad dreams."

Hanabi's subconsciousness was able to make a connection to a distant memory from the past and accepted that explanation. Now fully relaxed again was she wrapping her arms around her sister out of instinct and was back to deep sleep in an instant.

Feeling her sister close brought a smile on Hinata's face and she as well fell back to sleep quickly. The rest of her night remained dreamless.

The next morning

Hanabi woke up to an unusual feeling. It felt warmer than usual and her head was laying on something comfy that wasn't her pillow, that much was for sure. However, she just barely woke up, still more sleepy than anything else, so her mind wasn't really registering what she was laying on. "So comfy..." she mumbled, snuggling closer to whatever it was inside her bed.

As a reaction to her movings and voice was the thing below her moving slightly as well, a voice quietly answering her. "So warm..." It sounded familiar to her and she enjoyed it when the thing wrapped it's arms around her body.

Still half sleeping and eyes not yet opened was her brain at least working a little, making some connections. "That you, Nata-chan?" she asked, still quietly and mumbling. "Bad dreams?"

Hinata was in a similiar state, not really awake yet and enjoyed the closeness to her sister. "Yeah, bad dreams, Nabi-chan." she answered in a mumbling way.

Both were using the names they gave each other when they were younger but which they hadn't used for years. It was the situation and the fact that both were still sleepy that brought them to use these names.

"You haven't come over for years, Nata-chan." Hanabi said, slowly becoming aware of her surroundings, slowly completely waking up. "Was it that bad?"

"Uhu." Hinata hummed out. "It somehow felt so real and it scared me to the core. Even worse compared to the kidnapping..."

Slowly opening her eyes was Hanabi planning to slightly lift her body up to look at her sister. However, as soon as her eyes were open was she realizing where her head was laying on and when she tried to get up was Hinata holding her closer. "Uhm, sis? You know that you are pressing my head into your breasts?" she asked quietly, unsure on how to react.

"Haven't we just agreed that they are warm and comfy?" Hinata asked in return, not really caring how they were touching each other because it simply felt good for her having her sister that close.

"To think that you were having self-doubts about your body til just a few months ago..." Hanabi sighed, surrendering to her sisters hold on her for the moment. "What was the dream about and how do you feel now? Got over it?" she asked a bit worried, remembering the shivering mess her sister always was years ago whenever she snug into her bed because of a bad dream.

"I... guess so." she replied hesitant. "At least haven't I dreamt once I got here. But..." she could feel her throat tightening, not really wanting to talk about. "It was totally embarassing... I don't want to tell."

That surprised Hanabi completely. She was used to her sister always telling her about the bad dreams that they could get rid of them together. It was childs play back these years, but still. "You know that I could simply order you to tell me, right?" she asked sweetly, feeling how her sister tensed up under her. "And if you still wouldn't do could I punish you. Isn't that convenient? And after that would you most likely tell me anyway, so why not save all these trouble and just tell me right away?"

"But..." Hinata started but stopped right away, thinking about it. "I... he... it..." she started to stutter out, no real line of thought behind her words.

"Oh, I see. So it's about a boy, huh? Did you have a bad dream with your Naruto-kun? Was he rejecting you because he learned about our relationship?" Hanabi was clearly teasing her sister and only guessing out into the blue, not really expecting to land a hit at all. All she was hoping for was that her sister would snap with the mention of Naruto and correct her statement, in the end telling about her dream.

And it seemed to work. "What? No! Nothing like that!" she said a bit louder than she planned to. "There was a figure I couldn't really see because there was light behind it. And he had a dog somewhere hidden and I couldn't help but thinking that he sounded familiar. But he surely was not Naruto-kun!"

Hanabi thought about that for a short moment before grinning, deciding on a way to get the complete story. "And since when is a shadowy figure a bad dream even worse than being kidnapped? Really sis, you sound like a coward just now." she stated in a matter of fact tone and snuggled a bit closer into Hinata's breast hoping to distract her enough that she couldn't catch a clear thought.

Hinata was purring quietly for a short moment before shaking her head. She would show her sister that she was no coward. "Easy. Since the moment a shadowy figure is planning to treat you like a dog because you are on your hands and knees naked, only wearing a collar! You would be scared by that too." she felt good having proven her sister wrong. Having stated why being scared by that doesn't mean to be a coward. Having told her... she gulped when she realized that she walked right into her sisters trap, having told her about the dream just now.

Finally pushing herself away from her sister was Hanabi hovering over her, supported by her arms left and right of Hinata's head, watching her deep into the eyes. "You are wearing your own collar for just one night and are having dreams about being a pet right away?" she asked with surprise, concern and doubt in her voice. "I think you kept the book about pets for way too long, sis..."

Holding her breath and blushing crimson was Hinata thinking about how to reply, before she sighed in resignation and turned her head away, not daring to look her sister into the eyes. She couldn't deny that there might be a connection.

"Okay, fine, let me get that clear for you, sis. Nobody is going to make you a pet. You are mine and mine alone and I will not allow that to happen." she shook her head, still watching down on her sister, her emotions starting to run wild. "And you said the boy sounded familiar and had a dog somewhere?" getting a small nod as answer did she continue. "I will never allow dogboy to get even close to you. He's the only boy with dog we know and he is not going to get his hands on you! Do you understand that, slave?" Hanabi was breathing hard, her emotions getting the better of her right now, mostly anger.

"Yes Mistress!" Hinata quickly replied while shifting uneasy below her sister. She could tell that she shouldn't upset her even more now or she would regret it.

"See, all good now, right?" smiling down on Hinata was her voice totally sweet again. "Now if you are a good girl and will fulfill your orders for this morning can we get up as well." after finishing was Hanabi lowering herself back on her sister, snuggling against her chest once more. She might as well make herself comfortable while she is getting a report.

Being confused for a short second was Hinata not sure what her sister was talking about, but she quickly remembered. However, she got slightly distracted by her sisters movements and needed some time before she finally started to speak. "I'm feeling good. The collar isn't too tight or something, it could be considered comfortable. And... when I woke up from my nightmare and felt it around my neck... I felt secure. It felt right to wear it and that it was at the place it should be."

Hearing her sister's report was Hanabi smiling to herself, trailing her fingers up her side and tracing over the collar, before gently stroking Hinata's cheek. Raising her head from Hinata's chest to look into her eyes couldn't Hanabi help but giggle at the shocked expression her sister had just now.

Deciding that they should get up and start the day was Hanabi raising from her sister again. However, before finally seperating brought she her face close to her sisters and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, smiling happily. "Alright, time to get up. We have a room to clean after all."

Hinata needed a full minute to get herself back together, having a hard time to fully understand what just happened. Shaking her head to get her thoughts straight was she deciding to place it in the category for sisterly affection and got up from the bed as well. After stretching herself was she picking up her pillow and wanted to head back to her room to get dressed, but got stopped by her sister calling out to her.

"You know, I do appreciate it. I'm glad that you feel alright with your collar, but are you really confident enough by now to leave my room having it still on?" she grinned when her sister paled. "Thought as much. You can take it off and place it back in your collection. Or shall I make it official already?" the grin got even wider.

"If it's alright would I ask you to postpone that for as long as possible..." Hinata answered quietly before taking the collar off her neck, holding it between her body and pillow that nobody would see it before leaving the room and heading to her own.

"Well, no more teasing for today. After what happened at her party does she deserve at least a day without it." Hanabi said to herself before getting ready for the day.

Yamanaka storeroom

Ino was already there checking the flowers for any kind of flaws or damage. After all, just because they were used as decoration didn't meant that they couldn't sell them anymore as long as they are in a good condition. She was so into her work that she didn't hear the door to the room opening and nearly screamed in surprise when the sisters called out to her.

Turning around was she lightly glaring at them, before speaking. "You know, you shouldn't sneak up onto people like thaty. What if I would get a heart attack by you suddenly calling out to me? Geez..." she rolled her eyes. "I'm wondering if I should start spreading the newest gossip about you two just to get you back."

Both sisters tensed up hearing that with Hanabi glaring angrily at Ino while Hinata simply let her head hang. Realizing right away that it was a mistake joking about that topic was Ino trying to reduce the damage done. "Aw, common, that was a joke. I would never do that..." she said defending herself. "It's just, you know... when that man appeared here yesterday and Naruto went all berserk... I understand that you went through a lot, but still, I'm kinda curious." she sighed. "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that topic up in the first place."

Ino turned away to focus back on the flowers when Hanabi quietly spoke up. "He was one of the kidnappers, yes. But he was nice to us the whole time. Made us help realize some things we were unsure about... He isn't a bad person I guess. Had just the wrong people giving him orders..."

"Hey, I didn't meant to bring you two down..." turning back towards the sisters did Ino realize that both sat down at the table in the middle, both looking sad and disturbed. That was the moment when she figured one thing out. "You never spoke about what happened to anyone, did you? You never got a chance to work things out in your minds..."

Hanabi just shrugged at that, her left hand grabbing the burn scar on her right arm unconscious. It was Hinata who started to explain. "We didn't, no. We... don't wanted anyone to find out. I think our father still doesn't know about it or we would have less freedoms. We... well, she..." she pointed towards Hanabi. "She is the heiress of our clan. He would totally go crazy with restrictions and bodyguards if he knew."

Pondering about these words was Ino slowly nodding. "I understand the point about your father. Guess mine would go crazy in a similiar way. But shouldn't you have talked about it with someone you trust? I mean... judging on Naruto's reaction yesterday to that man... could it be that you three are traumatized by these events?" the worry for her friends was clearly hearable in her voice.

A small smile crossed Hinata's lips when she answered. "Well, it might have been a good idea, but... if you might know is our most trustworthy friend also known as the queen of gossip, so..." she shrugged a bit helpless while making that comment. "No offense to you, but there are more then enough rumours about us around, don't you think?"

Ino pouted at the distrust her best friends just confirmed towards her, before sighing. "I guess you got a point there. Am still totally sorry about the whole 'Hinata-chan likes Naruto' thing back then. I can keep secrets, sure, but I guess I have to admit that the gossiping takes the upper hand more often than not."

"Now you know why we never said something..." Hanabi said quietly. "You do remember how I broke down few days ago when you manage to get me to speak about it, right?" she asked, looking up at Ino. "And I'm still not over it. Think I got hit the hardest with your trauma thing." her fingernails dug into her scar, a hiss leaving her lips through gritted teeth.

"Want to talk about it now?" Ino offered, watching her friends. "I'll tell my mom that we will clean the room on another day."

Hanabi and Hinata looked at each other and both shrugged. After C appeared at the birthday party did half of the information already reach their friends who were present anyway with Shikamaru being around and figuring things out. It couldn't get that much worse if they would tell Ino the whole story now. And maybe it might help them to get over it.

A good four hours later were they still sitting at the table. Ino was silent for most of the time, but her expression said a lot about her current emotions. Mainly shock and anger with a touch of sadness, fear and affection toward her friends. She got to hear most of the details, from how they were trapped and attacked at the ruins over their time being held captive in the hideout and how they talked about their future right in front of them til the point they were on the way to be sold as slaves when Kakashi appeared and rescued them.

It took her some minutes in which nobody spoke before Ino finally found her voice and words to say. "Wow, that's... an horrible experience you had to make. Feel better now that you could speak about it?" she asked concerned, watching the sisters carefully.

"I guess so." Hanabi answered, smiling slightly. "Thanks for listening. Sis?" she looked towards Hinata who nodded.

"Yeah, think I'm fine too. That's one point less on my mind for now. Thanks for listening, Ino." she smiled as well.

Returning the smile was Ino glad that she could help her friends, when another information hit her mind. "Wait, one less point? Is there more haunting you, Hinata-chan?" the worry entered her voice again. After thinking for a short moment did her eyes open wide by the thought that just appeared. "That has something to do with the collar and the man, right?" her eyes switched from one to the other and back. "I mean, after what happened to you... then you get that present with the guy appearing right after that? That's fishy..."

Hinata blushed slightly, opening her mouth but not having any words to say. It was Hanabi who spoke up. "Uhm, you do realize that I got her that collar, right? I even had it custom made just for her and I ordered it months ago to have it available on time."

Ino wasn't sure what to say either, before thinking aloud. "Yes, right. Hinata-chan told us about a collection. Do you have an idea why the guy was here?"

"No..." Hanabi shook her head. "I haven't heard anything. Haven't seen him either. Maybe Spooky will know something, but catching him is nearly impossible."

"Still haven't gotten him for help with your training, huh?" Ino asked, suddenly starting to giggle. "That's really spooky that Spooky isn't there when you are searching for him. Maybe Spooky is all spooky because he is a spooky ghost spooking around?"

The sisters looked at Ino like she were crazy, before catching up to the thing she just said and both started laughing at that wordplay joke.

That brought a grin on Ino's face. "That's right, laugh and have fun. The best way to get over things. What do you say, wanna spent the rest of the day at my place? If we are lucky might my father even know a substitute for Spooky that could help you out. And if not..." she shrugged "...can we at least have a fine girls day. Forgetting the worrysome things and just have fun!" she exclaimed happily.

"I would like that." Hinata said excited, looking at her sister.

Hanabi thought about it for a moment. "Sure, sounds good to me. Beside, I never was in your room yet, Ino. We always went outside or hang out at your parents flower shop. We get to see all your embarassing stuff." she grinned at Ino who blinked her eyes in confusion.

"Wait, I never showed you my room?" she asked, before the last part of the sentence hit her. "No way am I going to show you my embarassing stuff!" she shouted angrily, only increasing the grin on Hanabi's face. Realizing what just happened did she breath deeply before speaking a bit quieter. "I mean that there is no embarassing stuff at all."

"Right..." the grin still on Hanabi's face. "There is absolutely no embarassing stuff in your room. The queen of gossip is a saint..." she giggled.

Ino crossed her arms over her chest, grumbling. "You know, in return do I want to see Hinata's collection these days. Fair is fair. Beside... I don't think I can believe someone would collect such things unless I see it for myself."

Hinata was fumbling with her fingers, slightly blushing and stuttering. "Uhm, you see... I mean... uhm..."

Rolling her eyes did Hanabi speak up. "Sis, you cleared space on your shelf for them once we came home yesterday, proudly displaying them in your room. There is no point in not showing Ino."

"Yes, you are right. Sorry." Hinata said, breathing deeply, while Ino and Hanabi just smiled at her.

Yamanaka house, Ino's room

"Did you hear that?" Ino ranted while leading the sisters into her room. "I can't believe that my father doesn't know any earth users. I mean, he's working for T&I, he should know someone, right?" she aimed straight for her bed and sat down on the edge, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Though I thought his explanation was pretty intresting. Never thought that living in the fire country would mean that the people here would primary have fire chakra as well." Hanabi pondered aloud, not yet paying attention to the room they entered.

"Well, maybe. But you two have earth and water, right?" raising an eyebrow was Ino watching the sisters carefully.

"True enough." shrugging her shoulders did Hanabi finally get to look around the room, checking it out. There was one colour dominating the room, a deep purple that could be seen everywhere. Her bed, the carpet, most of the decorations, nearly everything had a shade of deep purple on it. "That's... wow. I don't think we could colour our rooms that way."

While Hanabi was watching the room in awe with a smiling Ino on her bed fell Hinata's eye on something totally different inside the room. "Uhm, Ino, is it always like that in your room?" she asked a bit embarassed and with a slight blush on her face.

Ino looked confused at Hinata. "What do you mean?"

Blushing a bit more was Hinata picking up a piece of clothing which turned out to be black shorts, clearly worn by someone. And it wasn't the only thing laying around. All over the room were clothes scattered around, from tops to socks, all kind of different trousers and even bras and panties were simply discarded on the floor, most of them clearly used. Hinata's blush increased a bit when she even spotted some thongs in between. She couldn't understand why some girls liked to wear them.

Watching her carefully was Ino simply shrugging at Hinata after a while, once she figured out what she was referring to. "Oh, yeah, that's normal. My mom will come and pick the stuff up when she is going to wash clothes. No big deal."

"But... what if someone enters your room and sees that? I mean..." Hinata took a deep breath. "There is even underwear between these clothes..."

"So? It's just clothes. Besides, the only ones entering my room are my parents and friends I invite. I don't see a problem with that." Ino simply shrugged again, not really being bothered.

"Well, I guess it's different from our house were you must fear of so many different people entering your room, especially if you are away. We couldn't make such a mess inside of our clan compound." Hanabi said, shrugging as well. "Different home, different situation, sis."

Nodding slowly was Hinata thinking for a moment before asking. "You haven't invited a boy into your room yet, have you? I mean, that would be too embarassing if he would see all this..."

Raising an eyebrow was Ino thinking for a short moment, but her answer came pretty quick all things considered. "I haven't yet, no. But I wouldn't mind. It's just clothes. Everyone wears them." she smiled at Hinata. "But if you want to talk about them the rest of the day am I all up for it. We could discuss which feels the best, which colour would best suit each of you and even make out a day on which we could go shopping together." her smile got even wider while Hinata slightly paled. She wasn't too fond of deepening that topic.

Hanabi on the other side was touching her lower lip in thought before picking up one of the thongs laying around, totally ignoring her sisters look and adressing Ino. "Well, since you suggested it. Mind telling me why you have choosen to wear these?"

"Hanabi!" her sister shouted out, her face crimson red by now. "This isn't funny! This is... it's..." she shook her head and turned around, leaving the room. Once the door was closed could they hear that Hinata wasn't moving away but instead simply sat down next to the door.

"What was that about?" Ino asked curious and a bit worried about her friend.

"Well, guess she isn't completely over her shyness yet. Or the topic is too private in her eyes, I don't know." Hanabi shrugged as answer. "So, mind telling me?" a small grin entered her face.

"Never tried them out I guess? It's simple, I just like the feeling of them." she was pondering how to explain it. "It's basicly just the right mix between amount of fabric and feeling on your skin. Slightly pressing in and if worn with something loose can you feel a fresh breeze. Something like that." she shrugged her shoulders. While she was good with gossip was she kinda bad in explaining things.

Examing the one she was still holding for some moments did Hanabi nod in understanding and careless dropped it back on the ground. "I see. Well, let's change the topic, shall we? I'll get my sister and then, I don't know, let's talk about boys?" she giggled while Ino perked up, nodding frantically. That was a good topic for their girls day.

Hyuga Compound

It was early evening when the sisters came back home and Hinata was still upset about some topics that came up. While they haven't spoken a word about clothing once she was back inside was Ino totally trying to force the conversation on the relation between her and Naruto, which was a topic Hinata didn't really want to talk about either. After all haven't she even seen Naruto since they split up after the party got interrupted. Nor was she able to talk to him, thanking him properly for the present and maybe discussing how they might go on from now.

When they passed the front door were they informed by the guard that their father was waiting for them in his office, needing to discuss something with them. Not knowing what to expect or which topic might be discussed did they walk over to his office, knocking on the door and entering after they got the reply for it.

The moment they closed the door did Hiashi glare at them angrily, his voice near to exploding. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked his daughters who looked back at him in confusion, not knowing what this was all about.

It was Hanabi who answered her father. "The meaning of what? We just came back home from visiting Ino and if you won't tell us what this is about won't we be able to answer." she said calmly which surprised Hiashi. Hanabi was in worse situations by now that her angry father wasn't much to worry about as long as he wasn't going all out. Though she had to admit to herself that she acted braver than she actually was, knowing quite well that she was traumatized by the things that happened to her.

Sighing in frustration did Hiashi pick up a small box from below his desk, putting it on top of it. Seeing the content of the box were Hinata's eyes getting wide and she spoke without really thinking about her words. "These are mine!"

"I figured as much considering the cleaning staff found them in your room." he was slowly loosing his patience. "What I want to know is why the hell you own slave collars. Or to be more precise why you are displaying them openly on your shelf?"

Hinata got kinda angry with her father. Not for someone entering her room, she knew quite well that their were members of the clan on cleaning duty, but for him taking away what is hers. "Because I'm collecting them? Why else would I display something on my shelf that isn't decoration?"

"You... what?" He slammed his hands on his desk. "There is absolutely no logic behind your words. Nobody sane would collect... something like that."

Raising an eyebrow at her father was Hinata thinking for a moment. "And from my point of view does the same apply to your collection of stamps, father. The shells mother used to collect were at least pretty, but yours..."

His anger increased further and further with every passing second heading towards a critical point. "I prefered it when you were the shy girl and not talking back..." he spat out coldly. "But okay, then please explain to me why there is one with your name on it?"

This time did Hanabi answer, increasing his anger even more. "Because I got it for her collection as a birthday present. You know, your daughters birthday that were yesterday which you have forgotten about? At least haven't I seen any kind of present from you and no congratulations either. And I was with her the whole day."

"I haven't asked you, Hanabi!" he was shouting by now. "But since you already interrupted me, care to explain why there is one with your name on it as well?"

Hiashi was glaring at his daughters who suddenly realized that none of them had ever thought about that point. The collection story Hinata came up with the day before was kinda reasonable and the origin of Hinata's collar was basicly the truth. But neither of them had thought about the collar Hinata kept after the kidnapping that had her sisters name on it. And that they weren't answering right now brought their father over the edge.

"Yeah, thought as much, you can't! Fine!" now was the time the girls should flee, if they could. "I even got reports of you two acting strangely lately. Talking about things not suited for your ages and adressing the other in ways not appropriate either. I want answers and I want them now or it will have consequences for you two that you don't like!" and was to late to get away and the girls knew that. It's rare that their father exploded, but when it happened was it always ugly.

Hinata kept silent and looked at the ground, simply hoping that it would be over soon. Hanabi's mind was racing, trying to come up with something when she suddenly remembered something she had heard some months ago. "You want to know? Okay, fine." her voice was trembling, she too was close to shouting, not caring much for the consequences it would have. "We are children and children like to play. That's it. Some play Family, some play Pet and we play Slave. So what? We aren't hurting anyone, we aren't bothering anyone, we just play between the two of us. Just let us!"

Both Hiashi and Hinata looked at Hanabi in surprise, not having expected an answer like that. Hanabi looked back into her fathers eyes with defiance in her own, her left hand painfully digging into her burn scar. That actually was something she realized lately she was doing quite often when her emotions got the better of her.

Their father was silent for a while and the girls weren't saying anything either. The air was tense enough to be cut with a sword and one wrong move might end painfully for at least one of them.

Hiashi sighed and turned away from his daughters. "Just take the box and leave. I'll let it slide for now. However, should I realize that something is totally not right will we have another talk and you won't be getting away easily next time."

Hinata quickly picked up the box and both girls left the office in silence, not looking at their father anymore. Both sides knew that they should get out of the others way for some days for things to calm down. Emotions sometimes are such a troublesome thing.

They kept silent til they reached Hinata's room and locked the door behind them. Hanabi walked over to her sisters bed and sat down on it. "I guess that ended better than we might have hoped for..." she said quietly, frustration inside her voice.

Walking over to her shelf was Hinata starting to place the collars back in it. "You acted fast enough to surprise him. But how did you come up with that statement?" she looked over to her sister before focusing again on her shelf.

A small smile entered Hanabi's lips. "Remember when these stupid rumours were around? The ones about our relationship? It was Teuchi-san who told us to just say that we are simply playing and that this is what children do. I just happen to remember it in time and I guess it worked for now. Though I guess we might need to think about ways to be either more careful from now on or to make it official already, sis..."

"Please not official... not yet..." Hinata voiced quietly, having finished with her shelf and sat down at her desk, looking at her sister.

Hanabi nodded slowly at that. "That's okay. I would say I try to hold myself back and we both should focus on our training for now. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good. You still want to try what Chouji told you, right? And..." she picked up the book she got from Shikamaru which was laying on her desk. "...maybe we can find some help in here as well."

"Yeah, let's try if we can get better that way. Something has to work." getting up from the bed and walking over to her sister did they start to read the book together. They could still "play Slave" at a later date.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Author Note:**_ I know I said I would drop them, but... dunno. Here's another note from me. A shorter chapter all together but I guess it's alright, considering my current circumstances. Plus I think I got enough "building relationships" and "planting ideas" covered inside.

And yes, the opening was a trying out from me. Wanted to know how it feels to write in that direction. After all, with that setting... *shrugs* plus it gave me an excuse to get the girls a bit more together ;-)

Final thing: Not sure if I'm getting another chapter done before the following will happen, so better to write it down here. Am going to have a two week vacation from 24th of October til 4th of November (funeral is set for the 4th as well, btw). That means that I'm also taking a vacation from writing, at least for one week in which I'm visiting C - well, the real one that is ;-) - maybe even for both weeks if my master can open up some time for me.  
So if I get a chapter done before I leave - I still wrote this week, so maybe. But thinking about what I want to write next, not sure if I get that done in time - will there be a longer break after it. If not will the break be even longer starting now. Just saying in advance - am not going to abadon you. *waves*


	16. Chapter 15 - Enter Title Here

_**C's Scouting Report: The basic idea behind the story**_

"Is that woman really that lazy? I mean, she more or less explained her basic idea and reasons for it along the way in the early chapters, when she actually was writing down some notes. And now do I get to explain them in detail again? Unbelieveable...

Alright, fine, let's see what I can tell you here, considering that this is a particular complex topic. The absolute foundation on her idea was a simple fact: Hanabi Hyuga had gotten way too less screen time in the anime (at least up to the point she watched it - somewhere in the middle of the war). I might mention that Hanabi and Kin Tsuchi are the two characters that somehow catched her eyes the most along the way.

That led to another problem however: Hanabi is way too young to do much with her. So it's either starting late in the timeline when she got a decent age (and with that skipping on lots and lots of events that might be intresting to put her in) -or- to simple make her older and integrate her from the very beginning into the universe. And so far is this way working out, somehow.

After the character and the starting point for the story were set was the question left what kind of things this story should cover. That she is going to walk along the original timeline is no secret at all, meaning events like becoming genin, wave arc, chunin exams, etc. are most likely to be covered. Does depend on how long she is going to write on this story of course. Though the plan right now is at least another 9 months, so plenty of time to cover plenty of things.

But what to write to not simply tell the same story as the original with a simple addition of Hanabi? Well, she got inspired on the topic, somehow. I mean... I don't really see how she made THAT connection, but... her favorite Naruto fanfiction is "NBH" by "Chilord" here on the site. It's about Naruto taking Kin Tsuchi as a slave, flatly said, after the author changed one simply thing: Naruto and Shikamaru switched opponents in the chunin pre-eleminaries. Well written story, great ideas, recommendable. Give it a try, it's worth it.  
So, her math kinda went this way: Hanabi Hyuga + taking on slaves = Hinata Hyuga

Totally crazy... I'm sure she spent way too much time on adult fanfiction as well. And has own unfulfilled desires, but who knows. But, yeah... that basicly wraps it up, how she got to writing this specific story. Though most following ideas were created along the way. She only has an unfinished plan covering some key events from the original and that's it. Everything else is just trying around things and see how they work out.

Scary that she got that far that way..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 15: Who needs Chapter Titles anyway?**

"Hey, are you okay?" a voice questioned but wasn't really registered by the boy who was talked to. Naruto sat at his desk in the Academy classroom. He got there as very first person this morning, something that was totally not like him, and he was sitting there for over an hour already, meaning he appeared early in the morning, maybe even still at night. He wasn't really able to sleep the last two nights, his mind still on the birthday party and his encounter with C.

"Want to talk?" the voice questioned again, still not really realized by Naruto. However, he did kinda realize when a figure sat down in front of him on the other side of the desk. Looking up did he see the worried face of Ino looking back at him. He blinked his eyes a few times, trying to figure if there was really Ino in front of him or if his mind was playing tricks.

Coming to the conclusion that Ino indeed was sitting in front of him was he finally answering her. "Oh, hi Ino-chan. When did you get here?"

"A good five minutes ago. I was calling out to you a few times, you know? It's so not like you to be the first in class, so... want to talk about it? The girls told me what happened and we are alone right now, being early. If you need to talk, go ahead." she gave him a reassuring smile, trying to comfort him in some way. She saw how the girls broke down while they were talking about the events and considering how Naruto reacted on that man...

He thought about it for a moment before letting his shoulders hang. "I just don't understand it... They kidnapped us, they wanted to sell us, and now is one of them here in the village and everyone seems to be okay with it. That can't be right, can it? Spooky was out there when I attacked him, doing nothing at all. He who was fighting against that man to rescue us. And the girls... I don't know... their reaction was strange as well. They recognized him, but... that's it. How can they stay so calm about that?"

Tilting her head was Ino watching the defeated form of Naruto. She never saw him that lifeless, that empty of motivation and energy. That wasn't the Naruto she knew. "You see, they said that he isn't a bad person. That it were just the wrong people giving him orders. So if he is here now and accepted by our Hokage, don't you think that he is an addition to our village if the girls are right? Aren't you trusting Hinata-chan and her judgement?"

"I do I guess. I mean, I like her and all, but she can be scary at times. Though she is always honest and that's important. But still... he tried to get us sold. Said something about me being strong once I stopped but I wasn't able to get through his defense... the whole situation is frustrating, you know?" he sighed and let his head drop on the table.

Ino rolled her eyes at that statement. "Really now, Naruto? You are what, nine years old? Did you really expect to beat a man with more than twice your experience? He complimented you, that's something, right? I thought you never give up, so don't do it. Keep on training and get stronger, like you and the girls planned to do."

"But... I... he..." Naruto sighed. "It's not fair. I got chased around the village way too often because I'm hated for no reason at all and he? He is a criminal that everybody is accepting here? That's totally not fair!"

"Look at me, Naruto." Ino demanded, smiling when he looked up from the table. "I'll tell you this once and once only, so listen good. You just need to keep on moving and prooving everyone that they are wrong with hating you. I had the girls over at my place yesterday and we... talked. If Hinata-chan is ever going to see you in that state will you most likely regret it. The scary side of her you mentioned? Well, get used to it if you ever slack off."

His eyes went wide and he paled slightly, looking at Ino in disbelief. She in return was grinning at him and lowered her head to be near his ear and started to whisper. "I only told you because we are friends. Everyone else would I simply let walk into their doom and enjoy myself watching the result. So better get back to your usual self before she is here as well."

"You are evil, you know that?" he asked in shock, looking at her in fear.

"Are you surprised?" she shrugged. "They call me the queen of gossip, remember?" she smirked for a moment. "Huh, can't believe I'm going to quote Hanabi-chan now, but... do you really believe that the queen of gossip is a saint?"

He simply shook his head. "Totally, totally evil..." he mumbled to himself.

Training Ground, after Academy

Hanabi sat in front of a flat rock crosslegged. On top of the rock were several different things she dug out of the earth, seperated into different piles containing only one part of it each. Soil, dirt, dust, stones, mud. Intensely staring on the things in front of her was she trying to figure out what to do now. "Can't believe I'm really doing that. It seems so... useless..." she spoke to herself, reaching for every pile after another, feeling how the different things reacted to her hands.

Once she was finished with that was she focusing a small amount of chakra in her hands, trying to figure out how exactly these different things acted in contact with it. What Chouji said on the party made sense to her in some way on that day. But right now was she doubting her own mind for actually trying to work with that idea of him.

She touched the different piles with her chakra induced hand and figured that the feelings were slightly different to before. That the things were reacting slightly different to her touch as well. Maybe that idea wasn't the stupidest at all. She grabbed another hand full of the ground, and inspected it, trying to see how much of each is in the ground she is sitting on. Trying to figure out how she might need to use, channel and shift her chakra to work with the ground here on the training ground. Trying...

Palming her face with her other hand was she screaming out her frustration into the air. "Why is using Earth chakra that complicated? That's even harder than all these chakra control exercises in the book." Dropping the mud she was holding was she getting angry. "You stupid earth! I show you that I don't need chakra to use you. Earth Style: Flying Stone!" she shouted angrily, picking up one of the smaller stones laying on top of the rock, throwing it aimless into a direction.

"See? I don't need Earth chakra. It's totally simple. Why can't I have another element? Stupid, stupid earth. Want to see it again? Earth Style: Flying Stone!" she vented her pent up anger on her training and the ground around her. Picking up another stone was she throwing that one aimless as well, not at all caring about her surroundings.

"I take that as hint that you won't need any help and that I shall leave? Alright, got it. But you should watch where you aim your attacks at." a voice stated calmly, startling her to the core. She looked around confused to figure out who the owner of the voice was.

When she finally spotted the person went her eyes wide. "Spooky!"

Kakashi was leaning on a tree at the side of the training ground, reading in his book as usual. He wasn't even looking at Hanabi, but held the second thrown stone in his raised hand. "I do remember having heard that name before, yes. Though I can't place it..." he said lazily.

Rolling her eyes eyes was she glaring at him after that. "You do realize that you never gave us your name, right? No point in coming out now telling that you don't like the one I gave you."

He raised an eyebrow at her and wanted to reply, when he stopped and thought about it for a moment. "Point taken. You are right about that. Anyway, I know that you are looking for me for some time now. Your sister told me the other day. Something about needing help, I don't know. I was just randomly around here when I heard you and thought I might take a look." he shrugged.

"That's so nice from y..." she was about to thank him when she understood what he actually said. "Wait a moment! You never intended to help me! How can you say you are intrested in our grow and then don't care at all? Stupid adult..." she grumbled, getting a hard to read expression from Kakashi in return.

"I don't need to be here, so better watch what you are saying. I said I would take a look, right? So how about you just show me what it is you are having trouble with and maybe am I able to give you an advice." he spoke calmly, but there was a slight hint of anger in his voice. Or was it disappointment for the disrespect?

"Okay, fine, I'll show you... Because I really need help with it..." she said quietly. Concentrating on her chakra was she slowly going through a set of handsigns Kakashi quickly realized at being familiar to him. Once she was done was she putting her hands on the ground, speaking out "Earth Style: Eathern Wall." and a small wall was raising from the earth, just to start crumble away at a height of around 30 centimeters. "See? No matter what I try or how often I change the amount of chakra it's basicly always that result."

Kakashi was watching carefully and thought about what he saw just now. "Why are you trying to learn Earth Style jutsu? Isn't your clan specialized in taijutsu and never using elemental jutsu at all?" it was the first thing entering his mind.

"Seriously?" she asked while glaring at him, venom clearly in her voice. "Do I need to remember you who I am and in what kind of situation I already was? But I'm sure that you are aware of that because you were the one to rescue us..." her shoulders slumbed down and she sighed. "Our clan's fighting style would have brought me nothing against any of these people, cause none of them ever came close enough..."

Giving her a smile was he answering. "I'm glad that you thought about that. You are right, being specialized in something can give you an advantage, but can quickly let you end on a disadvantage as well. I take it that you already checked your chakra nature?"

She was giving him a look that clearly questioned him about being serious. "Why else would I try to learn Earth Style jutsu? Of course have I checked my nature. And I was trying to figure out something when I got all frustrated..." she pointed towards the rock she was using as a kind of table. "Wanted to find out how the different parts of the ground react to chakra. But that's kinda stupid..."

"Well, you are skipping a few steps, you know? Elemental manipulation and applying it to something is usual the last one. First you need to learn chakra control and basic chakra manipulation before you should even think about elements."

"If you don't want to help me than please just say it right away." she was loosing her patience with him and got angered by the look she got. "What? You are aware which clan I'm from, right? I could easily paralyze your whole body with a simple touch with pure chakra control."

"If you would be able to get close to me that is. I think we had that topic already." she glared at him but kept silent. "Well, all I can say is that you are going in the right direction. You need to understand what you are working with and learn to apply the correct amount of chakra on instinct. Though I would check the intensity of the chakra you are using. I mean, you don't want to pierce the ground and hit the inner parts of it's body, right?" he gave her another smile and waved while he turned around and left the training ground, leaving a dumbstruck Hanabi behind.

She stood there for some minutes, her thoughts racing around his last sentence. She didn't want to pierce through the ground? Of course not. She wanted to use it, to work with it. It took a while for her to understand what he was telling her, but when she did was her first reaction to facepalm herself. "I'm trained to use a high concentration of chakra when fighting with our style to ensure that the opponent will suffer major damages. And that's all I ever did, concentrating my chakra the highest possible way... Hanabi, you are just stupid. You haven't thought about that because you never learned that it's possible to concentrate an amount of chakra with less force..."

Shaking her head at her own stupidity was she walking back to the rock she sat at before and started all over again, figuring how the different parts of the earth reacted to her chakra. This time however trying to not concentrate it too forceful. She knew that she had a long way ahead of her.

A park inside Konoha

Hinata was sitting on a bench, her eyes closed, enjoying the sunlight. It was a bit fresh outside and the wind was a light breeze, but all together was it enjoyable as long as the sun was shining. Once the Academy was over that day did Hanabi tell her to do whatever she wanted because she was going to try out the idea Chouji had and saw no point in Hinata sticking around.

She herself was thinking if she should train as well but decided against it. Her plan was to get something of her mind so that she could focus a bit better on her training once the nagging thoughts were gone. That's why she approached Naruto once the class had finished and asked him to come to this park later to talk about things. After all had they to agree on a course for their relationship, if there was one at all. Just because she had a crush on him and he in return gifted her that beautiful bracelet didn't meant that they were a couple or something. Not til they have spoken about it.

Letting her thoughts go was she focusing on nothing while waiting for Naruto to arrive. Or at least did she exactly that before her mind got pulled back to reality by a bark in her close proximity. Opening her eyes was she looking around, seeing a small white puppy standing in front of her, watching her intrested. "Oh, hello cute one. Long time no see, huh? How you doing, Akamaru?" she asked smiling at the puppy, picking him up and stroking his fur.

Akamaru barked happily and nestled himself in her lap, enjoying the affection. "Are you outside all alone today?" still stroking him did Akamaru not react to that question. "So is Kiba somewhere around as well?" getting a confirming bark on that one was she looking around her, searching for Kiba. She couldn't spot him though.

"You aren't trying to lure him to me, are you? Normally you two are not to be seperated and now are you with me just like that? You are a sly one, plotting something, right?" Akamaru licked her hand and she giggled slightly, preparing herself for her encounter with Kiba that would happen shortly. She had nothing against him and they kinda got along whenever they had to act with each other, but these situations were rare. Knowing that her sister and Kiba didn't get along was she trying to stay away and not get in between them.

It took three minutes, in which Akamaru enjoyed being stroked by Hinata, before Kiba showed up. "There have you run to, partner. You know that you shouldn't leave my side just that. What were you thinking?" he asked his dog, when he realized in which lap he was sitting. "Oh, hey Hinata-chan. Akamaru isn't troubling you, is he?"

Shaking her head did she smile slightly at him. "Not at all. I'm waiting for Naruto-kun and don't mind giving him a bit attention. I wouldn't have done anything til he gets here, so it's okay." she looked him into his eyes, the smile still on her face, when her body flinched slightly, her mind reminding her on the nightmare she had the day before. But it was just a dream, she knew that and ignored these thoughts for now.

"Ah, thanks for having an eye on him. Still, I'm not sure why he ran off in the first place. And to think I would stumble upon you because of that..." he simply shrugged. "Well, since we met by random can I wish you a belated happy birthday now. I..." he trailed off slightly, not sure on what to say as he remembered what he learned on her birthday when he joined the attack on the strange man that Naruto were fighting on the street. He scratched the back of his head.

Tilting her head to the side was Hinata watching him curiously. "Is something the matter, Kiba?"

"I, uhm... you see... well... I don't know." he shook his head, deciding to not mention anything. "Thanks again for watching Akamaru. And if you see your sister... tell her I'm sorry, 'kay?"

"Sure, I will, but... for what?" she asked confused while Kiba picked up his puppy.

"She'll know. Anyway, gotta go." he waved her goodbye and walked away, adressing Akamaru while walking, still close enough for Hinata to hear. "Why did you run away, partner? You know that mom won't be happy about that..."

Hinata couldn't help but giggle at that comment, closing her eyes again to wait for Naruto. She really was curious what Kiba meant with that. He couldn't have meant the whole situation between him and Hanabi, could he?

Another five minutes later got she pulled back to reality by a voice calling out to her. "Hey, Hinata-chan! Sorry I'm late."

Opening her eyes was she smiling. "Hello Naruto-kun. No problem at all. I just enjoyed the sun while I was waiting."

He sat down next to her on the bench, smiling while she laid her head on his shoulder. "So, uhm... you wanted to talk?" scratching the back of his head was he looking around them, figuring if they would be getting looks but was relieved that the villagers were currently paying no attention to them.

She raised her arm, showing him the bracelet he got for her. "I wanted to thank you for your present. There wasn't really time for it on my birthday..." her voice trailed off a bit but she catched herself. "It's really beautiful, I like it a lot."

"Heh, sure thing Hinata-chan. I care about my friends. Beside, it really suits you." there was a cheeky smile on his face.

"Thanks, you don't know how much that means to me. So... uhm... what does this make us now?" she asked curiously, raising her head from his shoulder to look at him. "Are we a couple now?"

Opening his mouth was Naruto about to answer, when he started thinking about it. That was a very good question. What were they? He hadn't thought about that yet and honestly had he no idea what it meant to be a couple.

"I don't know, Hinata-chan, I really don't." he shrugged his shoulders. "I have no knowledge about that topic at all."

Hinata couldn't help but giggle before she laid her head back on his shoulder. "Me neither, Naruto-kun. Guess we need to figure it out along the way, huh?" a small smile entered her face when Naruto laid his arm around her shoulder, holding her close and giving her a confirmation. 'I just hope there won't be any nasty surprised this time. Last time when we were figuring things out along the way...' she thought to herself, remembering all the things she and her sister learned about slaves while time passed.

Academy, some days later

"Alright everyone, please listen. Today will be different from our usual days." Iruka started the first class of the day. "I would like to see how much you all have improved within the few months you are in my class. That's why we will be doing a day of sparring fights that I can see your progress so far. That way can I also try figuring out if I need to focus on specific things for someone or not. Got that? Alright, then please follow me outside."

There were all kind of reactions from within the whole class, ranging from excitement to anger, hate and boredom. Some of them weren't too happy about having to fight their classmates again, others simply looked forward to showing off.

Once they reached the yard of the Academy was Iruka adressing his class again. "Okay, I'll explain how we are going to do it. I know that this is quite early, but you are allowed to use whatever you are able to. You don't have to worry about smaller injuries, we have a lot of medics at hand. However, attacks that could seriously harm the health or even cause death are forbidden. None of you is trained enough to handle such attacks with care or to dodge them. Or to make it simple: techniques with C-rank or above are not to be used. Academy technics and D-ranks are allowed. Got that?"

Getting mainly confirmation did he nod to himself. "Fine. Then let's get started. The first fight will be..." he thought about it for a moment, letting his eyes wander over his students. "Kiba Inuzuka and Hanabi Hyuga." he finished his sentence.

"What?! That isn't fair, Iruka-sensei. Dogboy tried to seriously harm me multiple times because of the last time we had to fight..." Hanabi shouted out, glaring at her teacher before flinching slightly, feeling Kiba watch her viciously.

"And I asked your sister to tell you that I'm sorry." he spat out. "However, that doesn't change anything about the fact that I'm so going to get you back for that. I'll gladly take this chance I just got." he had a feral grin on his face.

"It's just training, Hanabi. And you won't be able to pick your opponents in the future at all. Just accept it and give it your best." Iruka said, smiling at the girl who looked back at him in defiance before slumbing her shoulders.

Both of them walked in the middle of the yard, entering their fighting stances. Akamaru stood next to Kiba, giving a bark to signal his readiness. Hanabi wanted to protest again, when she remembered that this was totally legal. She was grumbling to herself, not wanting to fight Kiba and even less Akamaru.

The moment they got the signal to start was Kiba grinning. "Go get her, partner." he said and Akamaru charged forward, aiming to circle around Hanabi's right side and to attack from there, while Kiba charged head on, the grin still on his face.

Activating her Byakugan was Hanabi quickly thinking and decided to try something out. If that would fail might this fight be over quickly. She started making handsigns which surprised a few of her classmates that learned from their own clans. It was commonly known that Hyuga only fight with their own stlye, not using common jutsu at all. Meaning her handsigns were something out of the ordinary.

Checking her surroundings was she finishing her handsigns and pushed them on the ground, shouting out "Earth Style: Stepping Stones". It was basicly just a miniature variant of the Earth Wall jutsu she was trying to learn, but it might be enough right now. After Kakashi hinted her about the intensity of her chakra did she manage to raise a pretty small wall of only 40 centimeters over the last days, which she jokingly called "Stepping Stones", cause it wasn't more than that anyway. But it wasn't crumbling away, it was solid.

And it was another thing for Kiba and Akamaru: unexpected. She raised the wall in front of Akamaru who hadn't time to react and ran straight into it. It might have been different once he would be fully grown, but as a puppy was there not much he could do. A whimmer was hearable from him and Kiba shifted his run to the right, heading straight to his partner. "Akamaru! Are you okay, boy? Say something!" he shouted out, carefully picking his partner up.

Hanabi had no intention of hurting Akamaru. But on the other side did she knew that she would have trouble fighting Kiba as long as he had his dog at his side, that's why she decided to stop Akamaru first, even risking Kiba going berserk because of that. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down, while she watched Kiba comforting his partner.

"Hey, this voice... wasn't that the little one?" a man walking down the street next to the Academy asked another. "What is behind that wall?"

The other man looked up from the book he was reading, checking out the area they currently were before answering. "There is the Academy on the other side of it. Or more precisely their training yard. Sounds like they are having sparring fights running right now."

"Mind if I take a look? If the little one is fighting am I actually intrested in seeing how she's doing." the first man asked.

"Do as you please. But don't complain again if you get in trouble... again. Your decision." the second answered, focusing back on his book.

Smiling to himself was the first man climbing up the wall in a swift motion and sat down on top of it, scanning the yard for a moment and then focused on the two kids currently involved in a fight. He had heard right, the one really was Hanabi Hyuga. And the other one did he knew as well, that short tempered Inuzuka boy that attacked him on sight on the street. He was intrested in how they would be doing.

Iruka's eye twitched when he saw a blonde man climb on top of the wall and sitting down. However, it wasn't forbidden to watch sparring fights of Academy students. It was more like nobody really being intrested in doing so. Though the man could have at least have asked in the first place. But Iruka kept silent about it, after all, it wasn't forbidden.

Carefully putting his dog on the ground in a comfortable position was Kiba focusing back on Hanabi, an evil glare in his eyes. "You know that I won't forgive you for that, right?" he asked in a cold voice. "But you still did that on purpose, knowing quite well that we aren't on good terms in the first place. You... you... you crazy bitch!" he hissed the last part, but it was enough for Hanabi to flinch.

Her left hand shot out to grab her scar unconscious, her eyes focused on Kiba. "Yes, I expected you to react that way, but no, I wasn't intending of hurting him. It's just that I wouldn't stand a chance against you two together in my current state, I'm totally aware of that." she sighed. "You know, life isn't fair. I know that you know about... things..." she struggled to speak about it without mentioning it. "So maybe might you be able to understand. Maybe not. Anyway... That insult was too much." she shot back angrily, both of them suddenly charging at each other.

Even with her Byakugan activated had Hanabi trouble following his movements. Whatever he did the last months it clearly increased his speed. Though if the rumours were true on what his mother did to him had he a very good reason to become faster and also get better at dodging. Channeling chakra in her hands was she trying to hit specific points of Kiba, trying to paralyze him or at least a part of his body, but she had trouble hitting him at all.

Kiba on the other side was aware of Hanabi's eyes and that she was able to see her whole surroundings with it. He remembered quite well his defeat on the first day of the Academy when she simply played with him. That wouldn't be the case this time. Dodging most of her punches was he looking for an opening and he quickly found one. Slapping the arm away that was currently trying to hit him was he also approaching her quickly out of a ducked down position, getting his claw like fingers close to her face.

Realizing that this attack would hit was Hanabi trying to backstep away from Kiba. She wasn't reacting fast enough however and were unable to keep up with his speed, resulting in him at least scratching her across the face. Looking at his smirk angrily was her vision suddenly changing slightly red and she rubbed her eye with her hand to make it better. When she started feeling a pain around her eye as well was she sure that he hit her across it with his claws and there was indeed three fine lines of blood reaching from forehead to cheek, crossing her eye. One second slower with her backstep and he might have seriously injured her sight.

That enraged her totally and she charged back at Kiba, who still had a smirk on his face, confident that now she would make mistakes and go down easily. Now was it his turn to play with her, to simply dodge her attacks, to humilate her. However, Hanabi became a bit faster then before and he had to actually parry her punches from time to time instead of dodging.

When suddenly there was a smirk on her face was Kiba about to ask what might be so funny when he realized that he couldn't move his left hand. She must have landed a hit on his wrist when he was parrying her last attack, making him growl in anger. This wasn't a friendly spar anymore and both were willing to inflict severe injuries to the other.

Most of their classmates were watching in fascination how quick both of them were, not really caring or understanding that both were serious by now. Iruka was pretty relaxed, not seeing something he needed to stop just yet. While they both started fighting serious hadn't he seen any attack so far that would result in injuries not healable by a medic.

Sitting atop the wall was C watching the fight with different feelings. While both were just kids and probably not yet strong enough to seriously harm the other was he experienced enough to tell that both had an expression in their eyes, clearly telling that they were willing to go til the bitter end. These two really hate each other.

Hanabi and Kiba both weren't paying attention to their surroundings anymore, completely focused on delivering punches to each other. Hanabi managed to land the one or other additional hit on Kiba's arm that already was partially paralyzed, immobilizing that one even more. Kiba himself was able to scratch her from time to time with his claws. Her shirt was slightly ripped on her left shoulder, thin lines of blood forming. The same on her stomach. And both of them were showing no signs of stopping anytime soon.

"Hey teach!" C shouted out, getting the attention of not just Iruka but some students as well. Hinata's and Ino's eyes went wide when they realized who was sitting atop the wall and shouting. "I would stop them while you are still able to."

Iruka watched back at him, raising an eyebrow. "And who are you to tell me how I need to do my job? Everything is fine with them. There is no need to step in."

"Yeah, right, because you are so much experienced and fought in dozens of battles and know how someone looks like if they want to kill." C shot back, rolling his eyes. "Just look them into their eyes. The little one won't stop til she paralyzed his lung or heart and the boy is planning to rip her to pieces." he saw that Hinata was paling at his words with Iruka still not reacting. "See, I would love to see her dominating that boy, but if you don't stop them will I. It's too early for them to die in battle."

That finally got Iruka to act. He appeared between the two kids in an instant, grabbing the wrists of both of them to stop their current attacks. Once the scene froze was clearly visible that he acted on the last second. Kiba's claw-like fingers were just centimeters away from Hanabi's throat and her hand was close to his heart, some chakra flickering on her fingertips.

"Alright you two, that's enough. You have shown that you two have improved over these months. Now step back and calm down." he said with a stern voice.

Both kids were glaring at each other for a good minute, before they finally turned away from each other, walking in opposite directions of the yard. Kiba went over to Akamaru, picking him up and cuddling him. Hanabi walked to her sister, sat down on the ground while Hinata kneeled next to her, hugging her tight.

"And they let you become a teacher? If you can't even tell when kids are going out of control..." C said calmly, eyeing Iruka carefully.

"Who are you anyway? I never saw you before and would appreciate it if you would just let me do my job." Iruka glared back at him.

"Me? Just a random person who has lots of life experience and is concerned about some kids. Are you going to continue your little sparring fights now or is the show already over?" C stretched lazily, waiting for a reply.

Shrugging his shoulders was Iruka turning back to his class. "I'll report this issue, just that you know." he said before speaking to his students. "Alright, now you saw what emotions can do to you in a battle. Always keep that in mind and try to not let your emotions cloud your judgement. Next fight is Ino Yamanaka versus Shikamaru Nara."

The sisters weren't paying attention to their friends fight. Hanabi was still emotionally upset and Hinata was worrying about her. "Are you okay? He got you a few times real bad... you are bleeding."

Hanabi having calmed down a little was watching down her body, shrugging it off. "Nothing worth mentioning, sis. I... it's just... I can't believe I lost my temper..." she said quietly.

"Don't scare me like that ever again. You two might have killed each other... if it weren't for C who got you two stopped..." Hinata shook her head. "I don't want to think about it... to think about loosing you..."

That got her Hanabi's full attention. "Wait... C? What has C to do with all this?" she asked confused, following her sisters arm with her eyes when she pointing atop the wall. Giving her a wave was C smiling at her before focusing back on the fight that was currently ongoing. "I... didn't notice at all..." she mumbled quietly.

While they both were still talking to each other came Ino over to them, sitting down next to her friends. "Can't believe I lost against that lazy ass... You were right, Hanabi-chan, I need to learn new things as well. Can't rely on our clan techniques every and all times."

"Told ya..." she said quietly, thinking about different things and hoping that C would stick around long enough that she got a chance to talk to him.

The mood wasn't that great at all and they were all in thoughts, when Iruka's voice startled them. "Okay, the next ones will be Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuga."

"You have to fight forehead? That's an easy one, Hinata-chan." Ino smiled at her friend.

"But..." Hinata started, but got interrupted by her sister.

"Go get her, sis. I don't want to see you loose, or else..." a small smirk crossed Hanabi's face and Hinata nodded in understanding.

"You think you have a chance at winning?" the pink haired girl asked when Hinata reached her. "You are too shy, too weak and friends with this idiot Naruto. There is no way you can beat me." a grin entered her face.

Raising an eyebrow at Sakura was Hinata pondering her words carefully before answering. "You must mistaken me for someone else. I haven't seen someone shy around here for months. And weak, I don't know. Would say I'm a good average for my age. But..." a grin entered her face as well. "You just made a big mistake by insulting Naruto-kun, Pinky."

"Naruto-kun? Are you really into this idiot? I should pity you... Sasuke-kun is the coolest boy!" Sakura exclaimed loudly, charging straight at Hinata.

'Now do I understand what Hanabi meant with Ino and Sakura always arguing about these two.' Hinata thought to herself before activating her Byakugan and getting ready for the incoming attack. She had enough time to check her close surroundings but didn't find a source of water she could use. Not that this would be a problem, she should be able to take Sakura out with her taijutsu only. Just would have been nice to show that she too was learning elemental jutsu.

Sakura aimed a punch straight at Hinata's face which she wanted to block with her own arms, raising them in front of her face. However, the punch never connected because suddenly Sakura vanished out of her sight. Jumping up just in time to avoid the low kick Sakura delivered after dropping to the ground with high speed was Hinata thankful for her eyes that were able to spot her quickly enough.

Sakura cursed and was up again, trying to hit with a follow-up attack while Hinata was still airborne. That movement wasn't too precise however and all she managed was to hit Hinata's shoulder. Landing back on the ground was Hinata loosing her balance for a second, but caught herself right away. She had to admit that Pinky was pretty quick and kinda tricky.

Turning the tables around was Hinata now attacking, trying to paralyze parts of Sakura's body, just like her sister tried before against Kiba. She started a flowing series of punches, never stopping her movements, moving gracefully like she would dance. Backstepping from these attacks was Sakura trying to find an opening in which she could land an own hit.

While these two were fighting back and forth with non of them gaining a real advantage over the other was a thought crossing Hanabi's mind. She turned towards Ino and whispered to her. "Hey, I've got an idea. Intrested in pulling a prank on Pinky there?"

She got Ino's attention right away. "Sure thing. Though you know that we aren't allowed to interfere with the battles, right?"

"Who said anything about interfering? All we need is a bucket or two full of water that we place somewhere around here that nobody is tripping. The rest will... happen all by itself. We just shouldn't be seen while we get them." a smirk entered her face.

"I don't know what this might do, but if you say we can prank Forehead that way, sure thing." Ino smiled back and both girls sneaked away from the group, unseen by anyone but C, who simply noted and ignored them. He wasn't part of the Academy, he had no need to inform anyone about what he witnessed. Plus he was curious what the two girls were up to.

Sakura lost her patience with this battle and decided to finish it. Making a single sign with her hands was she summoning three clones of herself, charging at Hinata from different directions. She was hoping to confuse her that way and to knock her out. The only problem in that plan was the fact that the close were just simple illusions, meaning if Hinata saw through them would they be useless.

Her eyes darted from left to right, taking in the changed situation. Thankfully for her eyes again was she able to see the difference between the original and the clones, who had another flow of chakra inside. However, if she played it right might she be able to use that to her advantage.

Playing innocent was she moving to defend herself from the first clone coming from her right side, casting a smirk on Sakura's face who thought she could strike now. Though when the clone was near enough did Hinata not defend and simply let the illusion slip through her body, turning in the direction of the real Sakura, her punch already on the way.

Realizing that her clones failed was Sakura quick enough to drop to the ground to avoid the punch, from there getting on distance again. "How can you be that good?" she asked, her breath heavy. "You are always that silent, there is no way you can be that good."

Hinata was thankful for this short break, her breath heavy as well. She also used that opportunity to check her surroundings again, to be sure that Sakura wasn't trying to distract her for another surprise attack. A small smile entered her face when she saw her sister and Ino placing two buckets of water on the side of the yard. "Well, actually training and not fawning over a boy might help, Pinky." she grinned slightly. "After all, yes, I like Naruto-kun, but that doesn't mean that I slack off my training. You see..."

Sakura's eyes went wide when Hinata was doing some handsigns. Backing away out of instinct was she trying to get distance between herself and Hinata, not knowing what was to come. To her own misfortune was she moving in the direction the two buckets stood, casting a small, evil smirk on Hinata's lips.

"You know Pinky, it's over now. Water Style: Bubbles." Forming a few water bubbles with the contents of the two buckets behind Sakura was Hinata still smiling, when Sakura looked at her in return, grinning herself now.

"Ha, nice try. You really think I would fall for some false handsigns? It's obvious that you just wanted to distract me. But now..." she wasn't looking behind her and she wasn't able to finish her sentence. The bubbles floating behind her splashed her, soaking her clothes and herself from top to bottom. "Eeeek!" she yelped out in surprise, trying to peel the wet clothes from her skin.

Using that moment was Hinata quickly moving forward, delivering one quick punch into the other girls stomach. It wasn't chakra enhanced or anything, just a simple hit, but it was enough to send her to the ground. "Winner is Hinata Hyuga." Iruka spoke up, watching how the girl helped the other back up before walking towards her sister, while the beaten one was holding her stomach, walking back to her classmates.

Hanabi and Ino were trying to hold back their laughter when Hinata reached them, smiling brightly at them. "Thanks for the assistance."

"I don't know what you are talking about, sis." Hanabi giggled, hugging her sister. "Well done."

"Yeah, nice finish with Forehead. Have you seen her face? Totally worth it." Ino grinned from ear to ear. "Also nice control with the water. You are really good already."

"I said it to Pinky just now, I'm not slacking off with my training. That's the whole secret." Hinata agreed.

"Okay everyone, we are nearly done for today. The last one will be Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha." Iruka announced, watching the two boys stepping in the center of the yard.

The girls just realized that they missed most of the matches with their talking, but they didn't really cared. However, now were all three of them focused to see how Naruto had improved, considering his clear loose when the Academy started. On top of the wall was C still watching with interest, judging the kids for himself. After all was his main business spying and if he would stay in this village should he also know about the future shinobi. That and he had personal interest in his former victims.

"Why do I have to fight that weak idiot again? There is no way for me to become stronger if I won't be getting good opponents." Sasuke complained while getting into position.

"What the hell is your problem? I mean, beside of your stupid arrogance that is." asked Naruto in return, clearly not happy to face against the Uchiha as well.

"Right now is it you, dumbass. This will be over within a minute and then I can focus on something worthwhile." rolling his shoulder was he now ready to charge.

"Funny, I wanted to say the same." taking his staff and attaching the segments was Naruto ready to go as well.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto's weapon, not having seen it yet. Similiar reactions could be seen by their classmates, except for his few friends who are aware of his staff training. Not caring much was Sasuke making the first move, charging right at Naruto, planning to use his superior speed and strength to knock him out quickly. Just to realize that his superior speed and strength weren't that superior with Naruto being able to block the punches with his staff.

It wasn't graceful and it was clear that he wasn't too used of using his staff, but he was still able to block. That pissed Sasuke off and he started with a fury of punches and kicks, still planning to finish this battle quickly.

Being pushed into the defense was Naruto doing his best to block the incomming attacks by moving his staff up and down, left and right and he managed to block most of them. The only ones that got through and hit him weren't that painful at all, having lost speed when Sasuke tried to maneuver them around the moving staff. On the other side was Naruto trying to get the one or other hit by quickly detaching one of the outer segments when he saw an opening, but these moves were rare and he had problems hitting at all.

After a good five minutes of back and forth, none of them were really able to score any mentionable hit, was Sasuke reaching the limit of his patience. Deciding to end it now was he stepping back which Naruto was thankful for, being able to take a breath. That changed quickly however when Sasuke started to go through some handsigns.

"Sasuke, I said no jutsu above D-rank. Stop that nonsense!" Iruka said aloud, thinking that it would be enough to stop his student from using that technique.

Not paying attention to Iruka was Sasuke completing his handsigns. "Your childsplay with your stick will end now. Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" he said, blowing a fireball in Naruto's direction.

"Shit, I haven't even started to train on how to block an elemental attack with the staff." Naruto shouted in panic, trying to get away from the fire.

The girls were watching in fear, not knowing what to do and Iruka was in a kind of shock that his student was using a deadly jutsu against a classmate, not reacting either. On that distance would it just need seconds and Naruto would be a burning pile of ash and none might be able to stop that.

"Card Tricks: Wall of Clubs!" C shouted, bringing his card defense between Naruto and the fireball just in time. A scowl entered his face when he saw some more of his cards being destroyed. "Great, I lost more cards within the few months I'm somehow involved with this village then I did the last three years. And that right now when I'm having no supply of new ones..." he mumbled to himself before adressing Iruka. "Hey teach, you should stop doing your little fights til you are able to control your little students. Or at least have them follow your rules."

Getting out of his daze was Iruka looking confused between Naruto, Sasuke and the stranger on the wall, before absently starting to talk. "This will have consequences... you are dismissed for today..." he turned around and walked back into the Academy building, thinking about the things that went wrong this day. There clearly was room for improvements on his side.

Sasuke simply shrugged and walked away, not paying attention to anyone in his surroundings. At least did he not had to fight against that weak dumbass anymore right now. Just that he wasn't as weak as he thought. Not that he was caring about it however.

The girls were running over to Naruto, surrounding him quickly. "Are you okay, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked worried, pulling him into a hug.

"I know how you must feel..." Hanabi said quietly, her nails clawing into her scar again.

"I'm okay, I guess..." Naruto answered, still not really believing what just happened. His classmate just tried to kill him. And his... his... kidnapper? Enemy? Nemesis? He wasn't sure how to name the person right now, but that person just saved his life. Pointing towards C was he stuttering. "I... he... he saved me..."

Giving them a wave when the girls looked up to him was C jumping down the wall on the streetside. He saw enough for the moment. Beside, the fights were over anyway.

Snapping out of her own daze was Hanabi realizing what just happened and who just saved Naruto. She shouted loud enough to be heard even on the other side of the wall were C just disappeared. "Don't you dare just walk away, C! We need to talk!" she was determined to finally get her talk with C, to finally get the answers she was looking for...


	17. Chapter 16 - Sweet Academy Times

_**C's Scouting Report: Butterfly Effect**_

"What the hell? She wants me to explain on time travel effects in accordance to her story? I refuse. End of story. I'm not going to do that.

I mean, common, who wants to read about quantic physic, the theories of ifinite parallel universes and the effect of changing the past and how that might effect the present and future? Sure, time travels are intresting and stuff and some of the best stories are based around that topic - though you can do many things wrong with time traveling stories. And no, I'm not talking about fanfiction in particular right now.

One of the best time travel stories out there, at least in her opinion, is the JRPG "Time and Eternity" for PS3. Graphics are maybe average, the gameplay is weak and the characters overwritten clichees - basicly everything you need these days to fail to sell. But the story, godlike! It's addressing the Moebius Loop (or is it Spiral?) and it's doing it perfectly! Totally a blast.

Or take the anime "Steins:Gate" into consideration. Changing the past, overwriting the memories in the present and explaining dejavu's as a faint memory from another timeline? Genius.

Huh? You say I'm already talking about these things? Okay, fine. Let's see... right. Butterfly Effect. Change something and it will change more and more as farther you advance. Well, it is true is all I can say.

In fact were there only three changes she planned on making in her story. Three major and obvious points: 1) Hanabi's age got increased; 2) the difference in the sisters relationship; 3) a new/different skillset for Naruto (because street brawler isn't nice). That's all she was planning to do.  
Everything else that happened so far and got changed just were follow ups based on these three aspects and happened along the way. Most were simply happening while writing, changing things up even more without ever noticing or it being planned.

So, yeah, considering the timespan that still needs to be covered... I wonder if anything will stay original at that pace..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 16: Academy Times - Sweetest Times**

"Where are you?" Hanabi shouted out of breath. She just left the Academy via the front gates after running across the building to get to it as quick as possible. There was just no way she would let C slip away right now without talking to him. The only problem she had was that she didn't knew in which direction he left off after he jumped down from the wall.

She looked down the street in both directions but couldn't spot him anywhere. So she did the only thing entering her mind and started running around the complex on the street, following it toward the place on the backside she saw him disappear. This time she would get her answers for sure.

"Wait up, Hanabi!" Hinata shouted after her sister, just reaching the front gates. She was a bit out of breath and stopped to get some air back into her lungs, realizing that her sister wasn't listening at all. This might become a stressful day. First the fights, now a chase down of C inside the village. Couldn't she just go home and relax?

"The little one seems to be in a hurry, huh?" a voice asked from the side.

Not looking up or towards the source of the voice was the panting Hinata simply answering. "Yeah. She's trying to find someone we know but just ran off in a direction without even knowing whether he is there or not."

"Sounds like a problem to me. And here I thought she would have learned to have an eye on her surroundings and not charging somewhere blindly..." the voice pondered aloud, finally getting the attention of Hinata.

Turning towards the voice went her eyes wide the moment she realized who was talking to her. "You? But..." she pointed her finger vaguely in the direction Hanabi ran off, her eyes focused on the man in front of her.

Leaning on a tree next to the Academy entrance was C, crossing his arms across the chest, smiling at the shocked Hinata. He made no sign of moving or talking, simply waiting for the girl to get out of her stupor.

"Why are you here? Weren't you just on the other side of the complex moments ago?" Hinata finally asked, getting her thoughts in order.

"Not just moments ago but for the most time of your fights, yes. And when I left did I hear the little one shouting and decided to wait for her here at the front gate. Who might have guessed that she simply wouldn't see me and storm off?" he shrugged it off.

Hinata took a deep breath before sighing. "I guess you are right. And I don't believe that we will catch up to her anytime soon anyway, even if we tried. Might as well let her cool off for now, huh?"

"You are a smart girl. Alright, since I have nothing left to do here..." he parted from the tree and walked towards Hinata. "...can I go on with my plans for today. If your sister wants to talk, what I suppose was the whole reason, can she visit me in three hours. And tell her to bring the boy along. Also, might be useful if you come too."

Blinking her eyes a few times in confusion when C gave her a piece of paper was he already some meters away before she finally spoke up. "Wait! The boy? You mean Naruto-kun?"

He simply gave her a wink with his hand over his shoulder, not stopping in his track. Hinata was watching him til he disappeared around the next corner, before taking a look on the paper. "An adress, huh? Must be the place he is staying. Well, I should better go look for Hanabi and inform Naruto-kun." she talked to herself before walking off in the same direction her sister ran. Luckily was she able to use her eyes to find her sister faster - which still doesn't meant that it would be an easy task.

Hokage office

"Hokage-sama, I'm not sure if I'm the best choice for teaching these kids. Today were too cases in which I failed completely..." Iruka sat in front of the Hokage who had a caring look on his face. He was stroking his beard with one hand, holding his pipe in his other.

"And still are you the teacher that is liked the most by our students. Your work is good and there are no complaints about you at all. Tell me, Iruka, why do you think you are not suited for this task? Tell me of these two cases that let you doubt yourself." he spoke calm and gently, trying to comfort the young teacher before him.

Iruka took a deep breath and nodded slowly, trying to get his feelings under control and to tell what happened in detail. "I decided to let my students do sparring matches today to see how much they might have improved compared to when they started. But two of them went completely out of control somehow and I didn't even notice it."

The Hokage raised an eyebrow at that statement. "You are usually someone who got a good eye for a situation. Mind to explain why you had problems today?"

"It was a match between Hanabi Hyuga and Kiba Inuzuka. It started with a knockout for the Inuzuka's dog and they fought each other fiercely after that. I thought that everything was in order, but I was wrong. There was a blonde man watching and pointing out that they would continue til the other would be dead and when I got between them had both a potential killing blow just centimeters away from the other... I didn't really notice it til that point..." Iruka explained, his voice tired.

Nodding his head in understanding was the Hokage answering. "I am aware of the tensions between these two. Just take it as experience for yourself and be more careful in the future. After all, nothing bad happened, right? And you said a blonde man saved these kids?"

"Yes. He sat on the wall watching the matches. Haven't seen him before." Iruka shrugged. "He used playing cards later on."

"Ah, okay, I know who you are talking about. And what about the second situation?"

"A match between Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. When Sasuke wasn't able to win did he use a fireball jutsu, willingly trying to kill Naruto. It was the same man blocking the attack with his cards, when I was too shocked to react..."

The room went silent and the Hokage was deep in thought. On the one side was he understanding the feelings of Sasuke Uchiha, on the other side was this something he couldn't tolerate. Willingly trying to kill your own comrades was considered treachery and needs to be punished.

"I know that this is a complicated situation, Hokage-sama. After all does the Uchiha has a kind of special position in our village for being the last of them, but... I can't tolerate one of my students trying to kill another one. The last ones that did that got banned from Academy for three years and I would like to do the same with Sasuke Uchiha." it was Iruka who broke the silence, bringing the Hokage out of his thoughts.

He inhaled deeply from his pipe and released the smoke, thinking about that. "While I can understand your feelings and the situation can I not allow you to ban the Uchiha for three years. The village elders won't accept that and will make both our lives a hell if we do that. However... I guess the use of high class jutsu was forbidden as well, right? Willingly trying to kill a comrade in addition to not following the rules of a superior..." he touched his chin, rubbing it in thought.

Iruka nodded to the last statement. "Yes, my rules were simple but clear. They were allowed to use academy and D-rank jutsu, nothing above. Not that I had expected any of them to know higher ranked jutsu by now anyway, but I wanted to be safe and as we can see for a good reason."

"Yes, I thought as much. Alright, we will do something with the young Uchiha. Iruka, we will ban him from Academy for one year. Considering his wrong doings is this reasonable, even with his special status. I will send for the elders and the Uchiha to explain this decision to them. And..." he looked Iruka into his eyes, with a caring look like a grandfather. "I expect you to teach your class tomorrow and onward. We all lack experience at one point and you learned something new today. Next time will you be prepared. No reason to question yourself."

"I will, Hokage-sama. Thank you for your kind words. I'm going to do my best to teach these kids everything they need to know." Iruka bowed to the leader of the village before leaving the room.

Once Iruka was gone and the door closed did Hiruzen Sarutobi sigh. "Why again am I still doing this job? Just one day of peace is all I'm asking for..." he shook his head and anyone watching right now would see an energyless old man and not the proud leader of the village, veteran of two wars. "Cat, I want you to go and inform the persons in question to come here."

Knowing that his ANBU was already on her way to comply with his orders was he starting to write down his decision, to make it official as soon as the required people would arrive. 'Just one day of peace...' his mind was around this thought for the rest of the day.

A street in the village

"Where are we going? Hey, Hanabi-chan, talk to me!" Naruto was trying desperately to get the attention of Hanabi who walked down the road deep within her own thoughts, leading him and her sister towards a destination unknown for him. The information he got from Hinata when she informed him wasn't much either, all she said was that he should come along later that day.

Getting no reply from the girl in front of him was he turning his head towards Hinata. "Common, just tell me what this all is about. Where are we heading, Hinata-chan? You must know it."

"I do..." Hinata admitted slowly. "If you promise to keep calm will I tell you, Naruto-kun."

"Huh? Why shouldn't I keep calm? I mean, there isn't any dangerous place within this village we might go to, right?" he scratched the back of his head, giving Hinata a smile.

Hinata smiled back at him before answering. "Well, yes, there is no dangerous place, but... we are going to visit C to have a talk with him. And he requested you to come along."

Naruto opened his mouth to quickly answer something, but then shook his head and closed it again, letting his shoulders hang. "I just don't know what to think of him. I mean, he tried to... you know. But then was he appearing on your birthday and wasn't hostile at all. And today he... saved my life. It's... confusing..." he said quietly.

"Which is exactly the reason why we are going to have a talk with him..." it was Hanabi who spoke quietly, her mind still within her thoughts, but her body reacting to the conversation that was held in her close surrounding.

"I would like to know more as well." Hinata agreed. "Maybe we could become friends with him? He might be able to show us many things. After all is he experienced, right?" she smiled, always trying to see the bright side of something.

Looking at her with disbelief written across his face was Naruto trying to form a sentence. "You want... to be friends... with him? But he tried... to... you know..." he shook his head. "Seriously, sometimes I wonder how your mind is working, Hinata-chan."

She shrugged her shoulders before answering. "What? He is a nice person, all things considered. He gave us food when we asked for it and all together wasn't he treating us bad at all. He simply followed his orders, something we will do as well once we are shinobi. I don't see why we couldn't be friends with him, Naruto-kun."

"Beside, I do remember him saving your life today. Maybe he's trying to make it up to us?" Hanabi added, finally being back in the reality and adding to the conversation.

Letting his shoulders hang in defeat was Naruto keeping quiet for the moment. Hinata touched her lower lip in thought and adressed her sister. "That reminds me... hadn't he given you a card back then, Hanabi? Have you figured out what it is by now?"

Hanabi shook her head. "No, I still haven't. From what he said and remembering the way he got the food for us do I have an idea how it might be working, but none of us learned to use storage seals yet. That and I guess that his cards are a bit more complicated to be used."

"What else am I missing between you two and him?" Naruto asked in disbelief. "He gave you food, he treated you well, he gave you a card? I can't remember any of these things..."

Hinata was looking at Hanabi who just grinned and decided to answer that question. "Uhm... maybe it's because they knocked you out for shouting at them, Naruto-kun? You do remember that, right?" she had a slight smirk on her face when Naruto let his head hang in defeat.

"Yeah, I do. Thanks for reminding me..." he said quietly.

They joked around for the rest of the way to the adress they got from C, the girls having fun in teasing Naruto about what happened back then. It took them another ten minutes til they reached their target and they stood in front of an apartment complex.

"He is... living here?" Naruto asked sceptically. "And I thought the building I got my apartment in was in a bad condition..."

"Remember who he is and what he was before coming here. I guess it does make sense that he is living in such a place. I mean, look over there." Hanabi pointed on a nearby roof. "ANBU isn't even trying to hide. They are probably watching several people living here at the same time."

"Guess you are right. But... won't we be getting problems if they see us entering his apartment?" Naruto was happy with the fact that there were nearly none hostilities against him lately and he didn't want to risk that by being seen with a person under surveillance.

"It will be fine. After all do they most likely know about our connection to him anyway. And even if not, we can still explain the situation to the old man and it will be okay." Hanabi said with confidence in her voice, stepping forward to knock on the door to stop any further complaints from Naruto.

It took some moments before footsteps could be heard from the inside. Just seconds later was the door opened, showing a surprised looking C. "You actually came, huh? I honestly hadn't thought you three would find the courage to show up. Well, since you are here, want to come inside? Guess it might take a bit longer for us to talk."

The reactions of the three kids couldn't be more different. Hinata looked down at the ground embarassed, not wanting to look into the eyes of the person knowing her role in life. Naruto wasn't sure how he should feel right now, his emotions switching from anger and hate towards thankfulness for saving his life and back. This conflict could be clearly seen on his face and his hands were shaking. And Hanabi was glaring at him as if she wanted to tell him that he wouldn't get away easily this time.

Seeing these reactions did C simply shrug and walked back into his apartment. "Well, you don't have to enter. Your choice. But please close the door once you decided."

Without saying a word, and to the surprise of everyone, was Naruto the first to enter the apartment. He wanted to get rid of his mixed feelings and get his mind clear again, so he had to talk with this man. Seeing that was Hanabi following closely, desperate to finally get the answers for the questions spooking around in her mind. Last was Hinata, simply surrendering to the situation and following the other two. She closed the door behind her.

An ANBU on the rooftop nearby was writing down a note of the kids entering the apartment of his target, but that was all he did. After all was there no problem so far and with that no reason for him to intercept.

Once inside the apartment did they realize that it was even smaller than the one Naruto lived in. C was sitting on a table in the middle of the room which occupied nearly half of the free space. "Yes, it's small and nothing to live in. You gonna sit down or do you want to stay there all day?"

One after the other got they out of their stupor of looking around the apartment, each taking a seat at the table in the middle. It was silent before and it remained silent, none of them speaking. The kids were fighting with their own emotions, being inside a room together with C and he was simply sitting there, waiting for them to start. After all were they the ones wanting to speak, no matter the fact that he invited them to his apartment to do so.

When the silent became unbearable did he finally decide to speak. "Okay, listen, I know that I'm not the nicest person out there and that all of you have reasons to hate me. But if I recall correctly was it the little one that wanted to talk to me, right? So, how about doing exactly that?" he took a deck of playing cards out of his pocket while speaking, starting to shuffle them to keep his hands occupied.

Naruto and Hinata watched towards Hanabi, who shook her head to clear it. "Yes... right... I wanted to talk to you. I have questions... a lot. And I want some answers." she started stammering, not exactly sure how to start.

"See, it ain't that hard. I'm not biting, you know? Am not one of these Inuzuka." he gave them a bright smile, showing his teeth. "If you have questions, just ask them. I mean, I haven't planned anything else for today, but I guess you want to go home at one point, right?"

Still unsure how to start was Hanabi grabbing her scar and biting her lower lip. She was so focused on herself that she didn't saw her sister rolling her eyes. It was Hinata who decided to start the questioning. "Tell me why you appeared on my party. You not only ruined it with that but you also made things complicated for us..."

"Ah, yeah, well... I simply wanted to see you two. And I thought that might be a good opportunity. While Spooky warned me hadn't I thought about the boy and how he might react, to be honest..." he scratched the back of his head.

"HEY! I'm right here and I have a name!" Naruto shouted, glaring at C with a hurt expression.

Before someone else could react did Hanabi speak up. "Wait a minute. You know Spooky? Course you do, he let you go. I mean, you know the name I gave him?"

All eyes landed on C who in return looked at Hanabi. "You gave him that name? Nice. Thought it was matching when I first heard it. You got talent for giving nicknames." he grinned at the girl.

"Don't try to change the topic here. My sister asked you something and your answer was not satisfying." looking back at C with impatient was she at least back to her usual self.

He was short of words for a moment. "What do you mean by not satisfying? I just answered her question. Aw, common, don't give me looks like that..." all three kids were glaring at him now. "Okay, fine, I took a liking to you two. If it weren't for Spooky searching for you back then would we most likely have taken you in and made you part of the Organization, meaning I could have spent time with you. But it didn't went that way and when I heard that there was a party in preparation did I want to take that chance."

Hinata was nodding slowly, accepting this explanation. Hanabi however caught up to what he just said and rolled her eyes. "Nice try, but I'm still not going to tell you the story."

C grinned. "You got me there. Though I figured as much, considering her appearence." he nodded towards Hinata who started blushing slightly, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

Unlike Naruto who had no idea. "Okay, what is going on here? What are you talking about? Would somebody mind explaining things to me? Hinata-chan, Hanabi-chan?" his eyes were switching from girl to girl, with Hinata averting her eyes to the ground and Hanabi grabbing her scar again.

Deciding to save the girls was C talking up. "Nothing important, really. We just started talking while you were out cold. It's not like they had other things to do, being all tied up and stuff." he shrugged.

Both girls were blushing at that comment, pictures of bound woman entering both minds without them wanting to think on them. But having read that many books about these things together did had an impact on them.

Their blushes confused Naruto even more. "Aw common, I don't get it at all. Can't you just tell me what you are talking about? And why are you both blushing suddenly? Did that guy do something to you?" he became slightly angry.

C raised his hands defensely. "For what kind of monster do you take me? I would never lay a hand on a girl that young..."

"Please Naruto-kun, calm down." Hinata finally said, trying to solve the situation before anything went out of control. "He did nothing to us. We just talked. Please accept this for the moment, do it for me, okay?"

Crossing his arms across his chest was he mumbling a quiet "Fine.", his eyes still focused on C with anger inside.

"Thanks girly. So, where was I?" thinking about it for a moment did he pick up his story. "Right, I wanted to see you because I took a liking to you. And before you say something again, that is the truth. Though I was surprised when the boy here charged at me with his staff. That was a completely different level compared to his useless charge back then. And his fight today wasn't that bad either. But I would suggest picking more up than just the staff, maybe some elemental jutsu as well? That fire ball would have killed you, you know?"

"Wish I could..." Naruto was still quietly mumbling, getting a questioning look from C.

Before anything could happen was Hanabi starting to explain. "We all used the chakra nature tests and for some reason wasn't it reacting for him. Seems like he doesn't have an element."

"That sure does suck, boy. Never heard of such a case before. Well, good luck with raw chakra manipulation then. It isn't the easiest thing to do, but the logical one for you. Just try to not let yourself be killed before getting any kind of defense." there was a grin on his face, irritating the kids for a moment.

It was Naruto who understood it first. "Uhm, yeah... thanks for the rescue and all..." he scratched the back of his head. "But why have you done it anyway?"

"Because no kid should die at such a young age." C shrugged. "And maybe to somehow make it up to you. We hadn't really the best start and stuff. And since I'm going to live here in the future, you know... best to not be hated."

"Tell me about it..." Naruto sighed in frustration.

"I know boy, I know. Remember, informations are my business. At least aren't you a joker anymore. You improved to a solid 3." he finally stopped shuffling, pulling a 3 of diamonds from his deck and placing it in front of Naruto. "But you got potential, you know? Would be a shame if that got wasted."

Hanabi rolled her eyes. "Are you thinking about everything with your cards? I remember you referring to us as cards before."

"Huh? Yeah, pretty much. I'm a professional card trickster, so I guess it's just natural?" he tossed the queen of hearts in front of Hanabi and the jack of hearts in front of Hinata. "Or is the queen not satisfied with her jack?"

"What? No, that's not it. I just remembered this, that's all." Hanabi shook her head.

"Seriously, this conversation is confusing me more than helping me understand things..." Naruto complained loudly, watching between C and Hanabi.

C started to laugh. "Don't worry about it, boy. You might understand one day or you might not, who knows. But you are right, we lost the line in this conversation, didn't we? So, what other questions do you have for me?"

That simple question hit the three kids like a punch to the face. The atmosphere was friendly and the conversation itself open and free like between friends, that they mostly forgot why they even came to this place to have this talk in the first place.

"Why Konoha?" Hinata asked short and straight to the point.

Stroking his chin was C thinking for a moment. "You know, that has several reasons. It is a nice village to begin with, I can hide here from the Organization pretty good but most important did they show mercy to me in a situation nobody else would have done. Guess these are the major ones." he shrugged. "And some intresting kids do live here giving me the chance to see their development." a grin entered his face.

"Would you stop that already? No matter how often you try, the answer will stay the same and is a no." Hanabi grumbled, getting another confused look from Naruto and to her surprise a giggle from her sister.

"So what about the card you gave her? I think it was the ace of clubs, right?" Hinata took over the talking. Naruto gave up on following the topic a while ago and Hanabi got too emetional, so she had no choice.

"It was indeed. Though I'm not going to spoil the fun. Either will she find out how to use it by herself or you two can come ask me about it again under the condition that you look different, girly. Guess it isn't too important at all. You both are still young." he shrugged.

Hinata nodded slowly, understanding the hint exactly. He would tell and show them if she would wear her collar, if she would be recognized as Hanabi's slave. Either that or Hanabi would find out how to activate the storage jutsu that is most likely used on the card by herself.

"I give up..." Naruto said, placing his head on the table. "I don't get what you are talking about at all. But I understand that you like him and he does seem like a nice person in some way... that and he saved my live after trying to ruin it prior. Guess he's nicer to me than most of the village..."

Hanabi crossed her arms across her chest. "He's a weirdo. Like totally. But you are right, we kinda like him. And he helped us understand some things. Sis?" she looked over to Hinata who nodded.

"He did indeed. I'm not angry at him or anything. And he did answer our questions. Would say we are on equal terms right now, aren't we?"

C looked from one kid to the next, not exactly sure what was going on right now. Though he figured they would tell him. After all had both sides reasons to talk to each other.

Hanabi nodded and after some moments was Naruto speaking, his head still on the table. "...agreed. Don't think that we will forget, but we do forgive you." he looked up and at C who had a smile on his face in return.

"That's more than I was hoping for, I can tell you that. So you don't mind having me in the village?" he looked at the three kids, adding in his thoughts 'Sure, the Hokage basicly gave me the okay to stay, but knowing that these three are okay with it is somehow more important to me.'

Both Naruto and Hinata looked at Hanabi who got a grin on her face. "We are okay with your presence, yes. But every additional contact or thing or whatever will cost you. After all, it wasn't nice what you did to us." her grin got wider seeing C's reaction.

He placed the ace of hearts on the table, the card the girls knew had his emergency supplies stored into it. After going through a set of handsigns was he unsealing a bottle of sake and took a deep gulp of it, nodding slowly. "Can we negotiate the conditions another time? I'm not exactly sober right now..." he said quietly.

All three of the kids couldn't help but laughing. All considered was their speaking out with C quite succesful. They got some answers they were looking for and their relation was at least stable right now. While the girls were hoping of learning more things from him and he looking forward to see the girls more in the future - out of pure interest in them and their situation of course - was Naruto still unsure about him. What happened still nagged at him, but he accepted C as being a kind man of some sort that also showed him more kindness than basicly the whole village.

Hokage office

"Can you repeat that?" an old man asked, not believing what he just heard. Next to him was an old woman that had a similiar face of disbelief and was lacking words right now. In front of these two stood Sasuke Uchiha, his jaw wide open.

The Hokage had a warm smile on his lips. "I said that young Sasuke Uchiha here will be banned from Academy for one year because of his recent actions against a classmate and comrade."

The old woman became angry and started yelling at the leader of the village. "But you can't do that. He is the last of his clan and he needs to get the best treatment we can offer. It was a strong clan and we need him to keep our face."

"Do we? While I agree that the Uchiha clan was a strong one does this not change the fact that young Sasuke here tried to kill a classmate. And I am already taking his role and status into consideration. That's why he will only be banned for one year. The last ones trying to kill a classmate got banned for a full three years, so he can be lucky." the Hokage was still calm, speaking slowly like explaining something to a child.

"Why? Because of that useless idiot that can't even compare to me? It wouldn't be a big deal if he wasn't around." Sasuke stated matter of factly, his arms crossed over his chest.

"And for that statement would I like to extend the ban for another year, but I won't. First of all do I think that he is neither of the mentioned things. And secondly do I believe hearing that you tried to kill him because you were unable to win your sparring fight, meaning that he indeed can compare to you on some level." the Hokage still stayed calm, but he slowly lost his temper on the inside. If they would talk back to him just a little more...

"Only because Iruka-sensei hadn't allowed us to use all our techniques. That idiot wouldn't have a chance against me if I were allowed to go all out." Sasuke said with venom in his voice.

The Hokage sighed. "And yet another reason for your ban. You weren't following the orders of the man responsibility for you. Not following orders is something a shinobi can't afford to do."

The old man in front of the Hokage shook his head. "Hiruzen, we used to be good friends back in the days and even if we aren't anymore, let me give you this one advice. If you ban the young Uchiha here from Academy for one year will you sent an open invitation to the other villages to attack us, sending a sign of weakness that we aren't training the last child of one our strongest clans. It is your job as Hokage to think about the safety of the village, so do exactly that."

The Hokage couldn't help but to chuckle at that argument. "You know, Homura, it would be a sign of even more weakness if I wouldn't ban him. After all, which village would be considered strong if it hasn't it's own shinobi under control? History showed us quite well that this is the biggest sign of weakness resulting in the biggest incidents and problems. My decision stands and it will not change no matter what you two have to say. Sasuke Uchiha will be banned from Academy for one year. If he really is the talented genius everyone says can he try to take the genin test early after two years. So still on the same day he would currently, just with less things learned."

"This will have consequences for you, Hiruzen, and you know that quite well. We do have influence and we can make your job a nightmare." the woman exclaimed angrily, glaring at the Hokage.

Raising an eyebrow was Hiruzen Sarutobi looking amused at the old woman. "Koharu, your threats lost their spice over ten years ago. It would be best if you would finally accept that and stop making a fool of yourself. Besides, I recently got access to a new and independent scouting network. So if anything would be coming, either from the out- or inside am I sure to be informed and able to react."

This last statement of the Hokage surprised both elders, both having similiar thoughts. 'He must be bluffing. There is no way that he would be able to suddenly find and get access to a full working network. That requires years and he wasn't even working in that direction.'

"The last word isn't spoken about this, Hiruzen..." Koharu said with a hurt expression on her face.

"Indeed, we won't let this slip that easily." Homura added.

"I'm sure you will because you can't do anything about that, now be gone. I have other work to do." he gave the group in front of him a wave and focused back on his paperwork, not paying any more attention to them.

The two elders were glaring at him for some seconds before turning around and walked towards the door. Sasuke followed them shortly, his face showing an expression that said he wasn't caring at all. Once outside the office were the elders addressing him, but got interrupted when Sasuke simply shrugged and spoke up. "I don't care. At least can I now train without all these weaklings interrupting me or holding me back."

Watching the boy leave in disbelief did they still plan to do something against this decision and to make the work of their old friend a living nightmare. They couldn't accept such a bad treatment for one of the most promising kids the village had to offer...

XXXXX

And so does another eventful day come to an end for the Hyuga sisters and everyone else. All their lives are going to be changed - for better or worse, none might be able to tell. _  
_

The hate between Kiba and Hanabi has been revived and is something they might not be able to let go of anytime soon. While they did try to make peace with each other was their last sparring match sadly a huge step back.

The sisters continued to focus on their training; working on getting the basics for elemental manipulation done and furthering their clans taijutsu. They have a long and hard road ahead of them, but they are determined to improve, to protect their friends and to never again end up in a situation they faced twice already before. Being in a situation where they where helpless.

Same goes for Naruto. He focused on his staff training and working on the techniques written in his scroll. It's still nagging at him that he doesn't have an elemental affinity, but he never gave up so far and he isn't planing to do so anytime soon and being close to Hinata gives him additional motivation. If there just wasn't this strange guy that came crashing into his, Hinata and Hanabi's lives a few months back...

This strange guy, also known as C, is under close surveillance by ANBU and has to prove his good intentions. He is well aware that trust needs time and he is willing to work for it - towards the kids the same as towards the village. And as long as Tenten and the weapon shop owner can't duplicate his weapon of choice is there not much for him to do in the village anyway, til he is accepted as member of it.

As for Ino... After thinking over the advice Hanabi gave her did she came to the conclusion that the Hyuga girl was right. She needed more than just her clan jutsu, but was unsure of which direction she wanted her training to go in addition.

Beside of having a new nickname and a person to observe for the time being was there not much change for Kakashi. As long as he has his books to read was there nothing really bothering him and he will always do his missions as ordered.

Sasuke is taking the order to be banned from Academy surprisingly well. After all is there now none who can disturb him in his training or get on his nerves...

Which leads us to Sakura. Once she found out that Sasuke was suspended became she furious. She blamed Naruto and the sisters for that and it didn't help that she already was angry about losing to Hinata in the spar the way she did - which made peaceful relations between the two girls more difficult.  
Like with the situation between Kiba and Hanabi can only time tell if things will get better between these two girls.

Time, something the Hokage wished would be peaceful within his village - if at least for just one day. Though he figured that there was always trouble of some kind following Hanabi, Hinata and Naruto. He awaited great things in the future from this generation and these three specific kids...

Three kids that left many impressions on the people around them. Three kids that have different secrets and mysteries surrounding them. Three kids which future and fate is still unknown.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _ **Authors Note:**_ Yes, that was some kind of off-narration at the end. Consider it a summary of events and ways to go at the end of the "Academy" story arc. I thought long about it and discussed it with someone and decided that there isn't much more I could tell about at this point of the story. Unless you are intrested in day to day life of an elementary school student (though I'm not really up to writing that).

I'm pretty sure that I set all necessary tracks for what will come next - namely a bigger timejump into the future to start the next story arc. I know that this may be risky for the story, but I managed to have the story reasonable and making sense til now and I'm confident that I can cover a gap of time as well without ruining the flow or creating any major plotholes. If you managed to read my story to this point am I sure that you are able to trust me on this as well ;-)

Also, thanks for still being with me and bearing with my mind and crazyness.  
On a sidenote: I noticed that someone put my story into a community - that's a first for me ;-) I'm just not sure if it is good enough (topic-wise) to live up to the things that are written in the community overview. Anyway, thanks for that, really.


	18. Chapter 17 - Time can be nasty

_**C's Scouting Report: Timejumps**_

"It's been some time, isn't it? Two and an half years have passed, more or less. Well, actually a bit more, but whatever. It was a major timejump that just happened here and it happened for good reasons.

Each story will eventually reach a point at which it is necessary to make a timejump. Often it's just a few days which isn't critical at all. That's normal and happens on a regular basis in nearly every story. Sometimes it's a few weeks or maybe months. This can be risky, but it shouldn't be too hard to set things right before the jump, that the skipped time can be explained, like "they planned to do and now after the jump have they done". But sometimes is it necessary to do a big jump - what just happened here. And these are critical without doubt.

The creators of Naruto did the same between Naruto and Naruto Shippuden, a timejump of three years, simply stating that he was on a training trip. Okay, sure, that's two different series, but it's still a timejump within an ongoing story. But all together did this work out and it was needed cause they ran out of things to tell. They had reached a point that was suitable for the jump.

Now is it the same within this story. It reached a point at which wasn't much more to tell. The girls built relations, had two nasty adventures, decided on changes in their life because of these and other events and so on. Basicly every story aspect was set on track and the story ready for the jump.

What if the creators would have shown Naruto's three years of training? That might have ended boring and energy draining for everyone. Same goes for this story here. Two and an half year of attending the Academy? I'll pass.

Now is this story around the time the Naruto series started, close to the end of the Academy. Much happened already, changing some things, resulting in a different story than the original of course. Still, this story is going to follow the timeline of the original now, adapting major storypoints. On one side can you guess what is to come if you know the original (becoming genin - Wave - chunin exams, etc. you know it, you name it) - on the other side will it be different due to all changes that already happened. I hope you are looking forward to it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 17: Time can be nasty**

"You ready, sis?" Hanabi asked, slightly bouncing up and down on her feet, standing on one of the training fields. She had grown up a bit, being a bit taller now and she let her hair grow a bit longer as well. It was only a bit over a week left til the tests for becoming genin would be held and she felt pride to attend them with her young age of 10.

Opposite of her stood Hinata, she too having grown up a bit. "Don't think I'll make it that easy for you." she gave her younger sister a sweet smile.

"You are pretty confident today, huh? It's true that I haven't seen your training progress lately, but you sure that you have a chance against me?" raising an eyebrow at her older sister was Hanabi slightly grinning, not believing that her sister actually had a chance to win.

They were training together during the first year of Academy, encouraging each other when they stumbled, but it often happened that their elemental manipulations backfired somehow. There was a time at which Hinata's body was full of bruises because of flying stones hitting her, stones her sister tried to move and work with using her earth chakra. This also resulted in lost concentration, making it hard for Hinata to actually work and improve with her water manipulations.

On the other side had Hinata often problems in the beginning to hold the water she was using together with her chakra. While it worked quite good with her Bubbles jutsu, it was a simple beginners training jutsu after all, was she struggling when she worked on a bit more complex jutsu. It often ended with Hanabi being drenched and because of that always having a second and third set of clothes with her for training.

Because of these events did they decide at some point to train on their elemental manipulations alone, to avoid distracting the other with failed jutsu. Training on their clan's taijutsu did they still do together, but none of them had a current knowledge of the elemental progress the other sister reached by now - which was one of the main reasons for their current sparring match. To see how far they have come before attending the tests for becoming genin.

Tilting her head to the side a bit was Hinata thinking for a short moment. "I wouldn't call it confidence. It's just that I didn't really liked the look on your face when you told me that you had a surprise for me, depending on my performance, once this fight is over. I'm your big sister after all and knowing you won't I like this surprise if you are not satisfied."

"You want to tell me that you are afraid of a surprise a ten year old girl, your little sister, has for you? You shouldn't let anyone else hear that, sis." there was a mocking tune within her voice that Hinata clearly heard.

"It really does sound bad if you put it that way. But the answer is no. I'm not afraid of a surprise from my little sister." she looked around the training ground to make sure that nobody else was around before she continued. "I'm more afraid of a surprise from my mistress if she is not satisfied with my performance."

Hanabi kept her word that she wouldn't refer to their relationship over the time, that they could focus on their training and that there wouldn't be anyone suspicions about them. It might have been ugly for both of them if their father would have gotten another hint about his daughters. Or if someone would have seen something, spreading rumours about it - again. They were pretty succesful in keeping that a secret by not acting on it at all during this time.

That however doesn't meant that Hanabi hadn't reminded Hinata about it from time to time. Most of the times when she did was it subtle, by taking the collar out of her sisters shelf and placing it prominent on her desk, dresser or bed. These were the things in her room Hinata used on a daily basis and she always had to take her collar and put it back on her shelf.

Another thing Hanabi did from time to time was to remember her sister that she had to make it official at one point after all. While Hinata wouldn't mind if none would learn about it, could she understand that her sister wanted to follow the rules. They did research how it exactly worked within Konoha and learned that a slave must be registered under any circumstance. They also learned that a slave holder actually needed a license within this village, which might or might not be the complicated part. There were several ways of getting this license and some of the requirements were actually already fulfilled by Hanabi. There was just one important thing missing, but that would be solved in slightly above one week.

Shrugging her shoulder was Hanabi playing innocent. "I haven't done anything to you during our Academy time. It does hurt that you aren't trusting me, sis..."

"Said the girl always reminding me that she is going to officially register me as her slave." Hinata rolled her eyes. "That's psychological warfare and I think it's not fair. Still... I know that I brought myself in this situation after all, so I shouldn't complain, should I?"

"So glad you understand. And this will happen regardless of your performance, so I don't really know why you brought that up in the first place." Hanabi was grinning again. "Well, we should finally start. The day won't last forever."

Getting a nod from her sister did both of them activate their Byakugan, preparing themselfs for the sparring match. Hinata was the first to make some handsigns, grinning at her little sister. "Water Style: Bubbles!" she shouted and created a dozen water bubbles out of the nearby pond on the training field, spreading them around Hanabi.

Said girl was a bit surprised by that, looking confused at the bubbles before speaking. "You are still using that jutsu? You know that it is pretty useless, right?"

"If it is distracting my opponent to ponder why I'm using it, is it fullfilling it's purpose." came the reply from Hinata who already closed half of the distance between her and her sister, charging to get into a taijutsu fight with her.

Realizing that she indeed got distracted by the bubbles was Hanabi starting to make handsigns of her own, pressing her hands on the ground while shouting "Earth Style: Stepping Stones!". Several smaller stonewalls of around 40 centimeter each appeared in front and below of the charging Hinata, trying to get her to struggle or at least slow down. It was the same jutsu Hanabi used to knock out Akamaru back then and she improved it by now to create a lot more, having in mind to keep the opponent occupied with the earth and to distract him.

It wasn't too hard for Hinata to dodge the raising earth due to her Byakugan. In fact could she even predict where they would raise because the ground at that place had an increase of chakra that she could clearly see. However, it was enough distraction, giving Hanabi the time to get through another set of signs.

Being hit by a stone at her left arm surprised Hinata and her eyes got wide when she saw dozen more small stones flying in her direction. Having a smirk upon her face was Hanabi now calling out the name of her jutsu. "Earth Style: Rain of Stones. Does it remind you of something, sis?"

Having to stop her charge and being pushed into the defensive was Hinata trying side- and backsteps to dodge the oncoming projectiles, even doing a backflip on the ground. However, there were too much for her to dodge and she entered her clans fighting stance, destroying the last of the stones with precise gentle fist attacks, surprising her younger sister who hadn't thought about that use of this style yet. "It does. On your first attempts with your earth chakra and all the bruises I got from your failures... and you thought it would be funny to make a jutsu out of it?"

Hanabi shrugged. "It isn't complicated. Kinda like what shinobi do to increase the speed of their kunai, channeling some chakra to throw them faster. Just that I can do it with stones and don't need to touch them, controlling them with my earth chakra. Simple, but it is working."

Shaking her head did Hinata sigh. "And it hurts. Fine, I should show you something as well.". She went through a set of signs herself and got a grin on her face when she reached the end. "Water Style: Water Needles!"

Flashback - Training Field, early during the second year of Academy

Hinata was standing right in the middle of the training field, the earth in her surroundings drenched by water, some of her water bubbles still floating around her. She was currently trying to move multiple bubbles around in addition of deforming one at the same time. It was after all just a trainings jutsu and she was using it as such, working on her concentration to work with as much bubbles as possible at the same time while performing other things as well.

Trying to shapeshift the form of one bubble did she suddenly loose concentration when a voice called out to her "Hey there, girly, what are you trying there?". All of her bubbles exploded, drenching her completely. Turning around to see who distracted her and ready to shout at the person did she saw C standing at the side of the trainings field.

"I was trying to concentrate on multiple tasks at the same time when you disturbed me..." she said through gritted teeth. "After all are water style jutsu all about forming and moving water, so I thought I should try to improve on that before working on learning anything new."

Nodding in understanding was C quite impressed. "That was a good thought, girly. If you don't get your basics done will you always have problems with advanced stuff. But the jutsu you are working with is pretty useless, you know?"

She couldn't help but roll her eyes at that statement. "No kidding? You expected me to know an A-rank water style jutsu or what? I'm in Academy, working with a training jutsu to improve. I don't see a problem with that.". There was slight anger raising in her and she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. All I wanted to say with that is that I actually have an idea for you. But if you aren't intrested..." he shrugged and turned to move along. "I got a meeting with Tenten-chan on another training field. She said she had a new prototype of my cards ready for testing."

"Wait!" Hinata shouted. "Sorry for that. What kind of idea? Please tell me, if it will help me improve..."

C stopped in his track, turning back towards Hinata. "Well, I saw that you had your bubbles spread across the field, all around you. That reminded me on something, the way I lost to Spooky back then. He used a low D-rank jutsu called Water Needles, surprising me with them shooting at me from all directions. All I thought is that you could distract your opponent with your bubbles and later surprise him with needles from all directions. If you are able to get your concentration right, that is."

"You mean you lost because of a D-rank technique? Hard to believe..." Hinata looked at C wary, not really sure if she could believe that. However, his idea sounded quite good to her.

"Ask Spooky if you want. About our fight and the jutsu as well. Though you need to persuade him to teach you." he shrugged and moved away. "Well, gotta go. Don't want to keep Tenten-chan waiting. She can be a bit obsessed when it comes to weapon testing..."

Watching him leave did Hinata sigh and walked over towards her belongings, picking up a towel to dry herself. She learned from the times she still trained with her sister and had always a towel and one set of spare clothes with her when working with her water chakra. Making a mental note to search for Spooky soon did she go back to her concentration training.

That evening did she randomly met Kakashi on her way home and asked him right away about the fight. He explained to her that C only lost to that jutsu because he was immobilized by his own jutsu and couldn't dodge it - making her understand why C lost to that specific technique. It took her a good five minutes to persuade him but eventually did Kakashi agree to show and teach her the Water Needles under the condition that her concentration and multitasking were good enough in his opinion. It was six months later when he finally teached her the basics of the jutsu.

Present - Trainings Field

Hanabi's eyes went wide the moment she realized that the bubbles around her, that she ignored after figuring that her sister used them only as distraction, changed form and all started shooting water needles in her direction. It was an effective attack from 360 degree around her, an attack hard to dodge.

Doing the only thing that came to her mind went Hanabi through a set of signs and pushed her hands on the ground again. "Earth Style: Earth Walls!" she bit on her lower lip while concentrating all her chakra into this jutsu. She understood how she needed to work with the earth, and she managed to control it using her chakra. Something like rising her Stepping Stones out of the ground was doable for her. Or creating one solid wall to block something. But right now was she trying to create four walls at the same time, surrounding her in a square to block the attack from her sister.

This happened to the surprise of Hinata who hadn't thought her sister would have come this far. And she soon realized that her sister wasn't that far yet, because all four walls started to crumble quickly under the attack. Her worry increased when she heard a high pitched scream coming from her sister. She wasted no second and quickly rushed toward the crumbling walls, climbing over the remains to get to her sister.

Hanabi laid in the middle of the formation, her eyes closed, her breath quick. Sweat was running down her forehead and her face was red. The moment Hinata reached her did she kneel next to her sister, taking her head in her lap and carefully stroking her hair. "Are you alright, Hanabi? What happened?" Giving her a quick check-over were their no visible injuries, so no hit by the needles or falling stones.

It took her some effort and long breaths before she could answer her sister. "I'm... exhausted... and... it hurts..." the voice quiet, the eyes still closed. "I used up... all of my chakra..."

"Stupid..." Hinata said quietly, still holding her sister and caressing her head. "You are stupid. Why have you done that? That's dangerous..."

Slowly opening one of her eyes was she barely able to see her sister, but tried to smile at her anyway. "Because... you are better than I thought... sis..." her breath calmed down slightly. "Don't wanted to be pierced and drenched at the same time..."

"Thanks..." Hinata had an honest smile on her face. "Common, let's get you up slowly. I'll take you to the hospital."

Helping her sister to her feet did Hinata support her by holding her tight and taking her arm over her own shoulder, carefully walking her to the hospital. They should be sure to get her checked, that the chakra exhaustion didn't effect anything inside her body.

Konoha Hospital

Hanabi was laying in a two person room within the hospital, the second bed empty right now. The medics checked her completely and haven't found any internal damages, telling the girl to rest up for some hours and everything should be back to normal. Hinata was sitting on a chair next to her sister, still having a worried expression on her face.

"Stop that, sis. You heard the doc, I'll be okay." Hanabi spoke calm, trying to reassure her sister that everything was okay.

"But what if something like that happens when we are somewhere with no hospital or medic nearby? What will happen then? You know that this would be a situation we don't want to get into... not again..." Hinata's worries were increasing, her head thinking about possible situations that fueled her worries even more. She was trapt inside a downwards spiral.

She couldn't help but sigh, still, Hanabi knew that her sister was right. But thinking about dangerous what if-scenarios wouldn't help anyone. "Pull yourself together, sis. You know that you shouldn't think about that. It isn't helping anyone. Better take some pride that you put me into the hospital. I really wasn't expecting that."

A small smile entered Hinata's face. "Actually, I wasn't either. But when you used this Rain of Stones... that really hurt, you know? Well, there was something telling me to use the needles. You were distracted by my bubbles after all. It worked." sticking her tongue out at her sister did she suddenly remember something. "But you aren't going to punish me for that?" a slight fear was present in her voice.

That confused Hanabi for a moment before she started to giggle. "Why would I? It was a fair sparring fight and you won. It's not like you would have disobeyed me or something, sis."

Hinata nodded at that and relaxed on her chair, watching out the window. "So your plan still stands?"

"Uhu. We're going to talk with the old man tomorrow and I will request him to prepare everything to make it official. And once we succeeded on the genin tests can we get the papers together with our shinobi license." Hanabi nodded.

"That means I will have to wear my collar as well very soon, right?"

"Yeah. You got a problem with that? From what I can tell do you like it and all. It is comfortable, right?" their was slight worry in Hanabi's voice.

"It's not that." Hinata shook her head. "I'm still not comfortable with the thought of wearing it in public. That's all."

"Or in front of father..." Hanabi agreed her sister. "I'm sure we can manage that, somehow. If anything fails can we still ask C for advice."

"True... speaking of... remember how we met him here in the hospital?"

Hanabi got a grin on her face, remembering the situation two and an half years ago.

Flashback - Konoha Hospital, around one week after their talkout with C

A nurse was bringing Hinata into a room with a wheel chair, gently helping her up in one of the beds. Groaning in pain by the touch was she glad when she finally lay down on the bed, not moving at all anymore. Her whole body was covered in bruises and each movement brought her discomfort. Hanabi, who followed after the nurse into the room, stood silently in a corner, waiting for the nurse to walk away.

Once the nurse was gone was she getting close to her sister, starting to appologize again. "Really sis, I'm totally sorry about that. I never expected something like that to happen. That the use of too much chakra would let the rock explode and cover you with all these fragments..."

"Just... be silent and leave me alone..." Hinata answered somewhere between a whisper and a painful groan, getting Hanabi to wince at the sound. She was currently extremely worried about her sisters well-being after this training accident.

"But... sis..." Hanabi started quietly, looking on the ground, not finishing what she wanted to say. She could understand her sisters feeling, that she currently wasn't too fond of having her around.

Both of them hadn't paid any attention to their surroundings and both of them flinched, with Hinata letting out a painful groan by that movement, when a voice spoke up to them. "Seriously, girls, can't you be a bit quieter? This is a hospital and it would be great if you would consider the other patients here..."

While Hinata couldn't even turn her head to see who spoke did Hanabi turn around to look at the second bed inside this room, her jaw falling open when she saw the person occupying it. It was a grown up man with blond hair, half of his body covered in bandages. But even with this condition could she clearly see that it was C laying inside the second bed. The person that had great influence on their life, the person they visited just a week ago to talk things out.

With the room being silent again, on one hand because of Hanabi's shock and on the other hand because of a worried Hinata who didn't knew why her sister was shocked, did C lay back in his bed and relaxed, mumbling a quiet "Much better." while closing his eyes. All he wanted right now was to simply let his body recover.

The silence however wasn't lasting for too long when Hanabi got out of her shock, starting to speak again. "What the hell happened to you? Why are you here?"

He knew that he shouldn't be surprised but he still was. Opening his eyes again did he turn his head to look at Hanabi. "What does it look like to you, little one? I'm recovering from some injuries here. And judging by your sisters state do I see the general problem here: the girls of this village tend to sent you to the hospital."

"What?" Hanabi exclaimed loudly, watching C in disbelief, trying to figure out what he meant by that comment. Did he try to lay his hands on another kid?

"Don't give me that look and relax... it was a joke, kinda... Tenten-chan had the first prototype of my playing cards ready for testing. Well, turned out to be an unstable prototype that backfired on me when I tried to use it." he shrugged slightly. "Things like that happen during weapon development."

"Prototype?" it was Hinata asking quietly, but still loud enough for C to hear. She figured by the voice and the words spoken that it had to be C in the other bed. "But you already have cards, right?"

"Huh, sure, I do. They are my ninja tools, my weapon of choice. And like with any other ninja tool can they get damaged or destroyed, lost or stolen. You need a steady supply of it and I lost mine when I left the Organization. That's why I approached Tenten-chan and the weapon shop owner to figure out how to recreate my cards." watching the girls for a moment did he decide to tease them a little by adding another sentence. "Though there is one kind of ninja tool that is hard if not impossible to replace, which is why it should always be treated properly."

That got both girls into thinking, trying to figure out what he meant with that. Taking this opportunity was C closing his eyes again, savoring the few minutes of silence the thinking girls gave him. It was Hanabi who broke the silence again, some confusion and curiousity in her voice. "And what kind of ninja tool is that?"

Keeping his eyes shut was C smirking. "A tool that you, little one, actually own for yourself already. I don't know for how long because you won't tell me, but still..." now opening his eyes and sitting up in bed did he want to see the expression the girls might make right now. "I'm talking about your sister. A slave is just property, a tool nearly impossible to replace cause you'll never get your hands on an identical one."

Hinata was blushing crimson red by C talking about that openly inside a hospital room and because she wasn't able to move and hide. Realizing that there was some kind of truth to these words, she wouldn't admit the property and tool part but he had a point of her sister not being replaceable, did Hanabi start to sob and sank down next to her sisters bed, quietly starting to appologize over and over again.

He waited patiently for the girls to calm down before he spoke again. "There is one thing you shouldn't forget, little one. You are responsible for her. For her actions, for her needs, for everything. That is if it is serious between you two."

"It is..." Hinata said quietly. "I'm bound to her by my word and honor."

"I see..." C nodded slowly. "I will be gentlemen here and won't pry into it any further. Though, feel free to get in contact if you need informations of any kind.". Seeing that both girls were kinda down right now did he sigh and decided to get them on other thoughts. "That is if you will let me see you in the first place. I think to remember that we still need to negotiate, right? Why don't we do it now, right here?"

Hearing that brought a small smile on Hanabi's face and she shrugged. "You are aware that I only said that for teasing, right?" gaining a confirming nod did she continue. "You see, we are fine with you around, really. All we would ask for is that you might give us some information or a helping hand whenever we might struggle. But I guess you were planning to do that anyway, considering that you are intrested in us."

"You got me there, little one. I can agree to these terms. Though, any hints on how to negotiate with the boy? I still need to get some tensions between us settled."

It was Hinata speaking up without skipping a beat. "Treat him to some ramen to talk about it. That's the best scenario you can prepare. But you should bring a good amount of money with you.". Raising an eyebrow in slight confusion did C nod to that advise, wondering what he might need the money for. Surely ramen can't be that expensive.

The three of them talked about random topics for the rest of the day. It was evening when Hinata recovered enough to walk back home and the girls left the hospital. At least had this training accident the positive side of them now being on agreed terms with C - that was worth the week of complaining about the pain Hinata was going to give Hanabi.

Present - Konoha Hospital

"Wasn't C sitting a whole day at the market a few days later, cursing about stupid negotiations while taking the villagers money with his card tricks gambling?" Hanabi wondered aloud, trying to remember the whole event.

"He did indeed." Hinata nodded. "Though I think that is fine. After all did they indirect pay for Naruto-kuns meal that day. But to think that he would eat over 20 bowls of ramen..."

Hanabi was shivering by that thought. "I know, right? That's crazy... I really wonder how long they sat together that he managed to eat that much."

"Actually..." Hinata started, getting a curious look from her sister. "I know that you weren't around Naruto-kun often and even less lately for meals, but... he can really eat a lot but isn't gaining any weight. I really wonder how he is doing that."

"How is it going between you two anyway? You had over two years of figuring things out. Any progress?"

Rolling her eyes was Hinata trying to avoid the question. "Really now? You spent too much time with Ino. If she is the queen of gossip did you become the princess of gossip..."

"With other words haven't you kissed at all yet." Hanabi concluded, looking at her sister worried. "I do wonder if your shy personality is still somewhere inside of you. If I didn't worked hard enough to help you get over it..." an evil smirk entered her face. "Though I would go and kiss him real soon. Who knows how he might see you once it's official?"

Letting her shoulders hang and watching the ground was Hinata mumbling quietly. "I have faith and trust in him. He won't be abadoning me, even then..."

"Better make sure of it. You don't want another girl taking him away from you just because she actually is going to kiss him and stuff, won't you?" she couldn't help but continue to tease her sister. It was fun after all. That and she knew it would hit her hard if Naruto would leave her, so she tried to push her sister a little.

That brought the energy back into Hinata. "You wouldn't dare to try that, Hanabi!" her face was red, her eyes furious. The thought of her little sister, mistress or not, taking away her boyfriend was too much for her.

Displaying mock hurt by that statement was Hanabi raising her hands in defense. "Me? Never, sis. I would never do something like _that_ to hurt you. I got access to a whole other things for that." she started grinning at her sister who in return felt uneasy. "But I would be worried about Ino-chan, if I were you. Weren't these two training together, lately?"

Another Training Field

Naruto was standing in a defensive position, holding his staff at one of the outer segments with the other two segments hanging down loosely. Opposite of him was standing Ino right next to a small river, a bucket by her side. Ino was covered in sweat while Naruto was completely drenched, a determined look on his face.

"Common Ino-chan, do it again. I need to somehow manage that before I can try doing the real stuff." he told his friend, his attitude to never give up sometimes surprising even the people knowing him for quite some time.

Taking a deep breath was Ino replying. "Okay, fine. But that's the last time for today. You are working on that for months now and still got problems with that and I'm pretty tired already. I'll finish for today after that."

Getting a nod from Naruto was she taking the bucket and filled it with water, before getting in position a good five meters away from Naruto. Channeling some chakra in her hands to get a bit more strength for the next move was she releasing the water in one fluid motion of the bucket in the direction of Naruto. He in return waited for that and started to swing the loosely hanging segments of his staff around like a windmill with high speed, trying to block and divert the water that way. This move was marked as difficult within the scroll for this weapon style, but if mastered was the user able to block even the fiercest elemental attack that way - if the used staff is of proper quality and the attack not larger than the area covered by the rotation.

Ino only agreed to help him with this training because she took that as opportunity to work on her strength and endurance. Having released the contents of the bucket was she waiting for the same result she saw countless times by now, Naruto being drenched in even more water. To her surprise however was Naruto kinda succesful this time, diverting most of the water flying his way.

"Hah, I knew it would work! Now are you speechless, huh? I tell you, I will become the greatest. Believe it!" he exclaimed loudly, a happy grin fixed on his face.

Being speechless indeed was Ino staring at Naruto open-mouthed when he brought her out of her stupor with the next thing he said. "Alright, now do the real stuff, Ino-chan. I want to try it out."

"What?" she looked at him in disbelief. "No way. I'm not going to do that. You just managed to block one time after months of trying and that not to 100% at all. There's no way I'm going to do that and put you into the hospital. Hinata-chan would kill me for that."

"Why not? Come on, Ino-chan. Why stop now when I finally managed it? Just once. Please?" he used an evil tactic against Ino he knew would work. Getting on her nerves til she would agree that he would stop nagging her.

Letting out a long sigh was Ino fixing him with her eyes. "Alright, just stop that already. I'll do this for you, but just once right now, got that? And don't you dare complain to me afterwards."

"Sure thing, Ino-chan. No complaining. Let's just start the last training for today!" Naruto was totally excited, his grip on the staff pretty firm, his stance ready to block the oncomming attack.

Sighing again was Ino walking on a position opposite of Naruto a good ten meters away. Looking at him one more time and seeing his determination was she shaking her head before going through a short set of hand signs. "Fire Style: Flame." she whispered her words and blew some air slightly on her outstreched hand, creating a small fireball hovering above her palm, basicly just a flame giving this jutsu it's name.

When she decided to extend her repoirtoire of skills was Ino pretty unsure on what she should focus and she tried different things during the first year of Academy. She quickly realized that her body wasn't that strong, giving her a disadvantage in taijutsu. That was the first idea she scratched out, even so it would be the perfect addition to her families mind transfer techniques.

She also read up on genjutsu which work in a kinda similiar way than her clans techniques, but these were too complicated for her at that time and she figured that in the end would she have the same problems as with the clan techniques. She would be pretty defense- and useless once an opponent got close to her.

At the end of the first year was she complaining a lot that she didn't made any real progress on anything and it was that time when the sisters gave her a chakra nature test, which resulted in the paper burning to ash. Ino had the chakra nature most people of Konoha own and having nothing to loose was she trying if she could work with it.

It was hard at first, being from a clan working with non elemental techniques that actually never really cared about investing time into elemental ones, but in the end did she realize that she could manage at least some, as long as these were small. Her clan's main jutsu requires precise useage of chakra directed on one specific point - and working with that was she able to learn the jutsu she was now holding in her hand. Her fire nature chakra focused precisely on one point.

In addition to that did she later agree to help Naruto in his training in order to increase her own strength and endurance, to somehow get at least a bit better if it came down to taijutsu. After all, no matter what you might be able to use, if the enemy gets close would you loose if you can't defend yourself.

"Here goes nothing!" she shouted towards Naruto before throwing the flame in his direction, the speed of it slightly enhanced by her using some of her chakra at the throw. Watching it advance towards her friend did she grimace, realizing that this jutsu got the same problem as her clan technique: it was too direct and would leave her wide open if it misses. Maybe she should start working on using multiple flames next?

Naruto was having a grin on his face, determined to defend himself against this attack and to never let anything happen to his friends anymore. He started spinning his staff again like a windmill with high speed, willing to deflect the flame aiming for him head on. Though when it was only two meters away of him did he become nervous, unsure if this was a good idea at all or if he would regret asking Ino for that favor.

Ino watched in worry when her flame hit the spinning staff and increased in size shortly before the contact due to the winds Naruto was creating. The next thing she saw was her flame hitting the staff and actually being deflected in different directions, becoming smaller. She was just relaxing her body in relief that everything went fine when Naruto let out a painful groan. Without even thinking about it was her body moving towards the river where she left the bucket.

Naruto was happy that it was working, he really was deflecting a fire attack with his staff. Sure, it was only a small one from his friend and nothing compared to the attack that gave Hanabi her burn mark all these years ago, but he was still deflecting it. Unlucky for him was he celebrating too early, loosing concentration and slowing the rotation of his staff down, which he regretted on the spot. There was not much left of the flame, but the last impulse of it, before dieing down, managed to slip through the slowing staff, hitting Naruto dead in the center of his chest.

He groaned in pain by the heat and his surroundings were covered in a steamy mist when it made contact with his drenched clothes. Figuring that he was lucky right now for being totally soaked with water from the earlier training and with that probably coming out of it unharmed, was he still dropping his body to the ground, pressing his chest on the ground in hope of getting rid of anything that might ignite him after all.

Though this worry was taken away as well just seconds later when he got hit by another wave of water. Looking up in surprise did he saw Ino standing above him, the now empty bucket still in her hands. She was looking down at him with worry written all over her face and he gave her a weak, reassuring smile in return. "Thanks, Ino-chan."

"That's why I said I don't wanted to do it, idiot..." she said angrily at him before kneeling down and knocking him once on his head, but then suddenly pulling him in a sitting position as well and giving him a hug. "Never do that again."

"Alright. I will be more careful in the future, I promise." he was scratching the back of his head and a slight blush crept on his face. "Uhm, you can let me go now, Ino-chan."

Realizing that she was pulling him at her chest did Ino push Naruto away, giving him another knock on the head. Looking back at her was he starting to complain. "Hey, what was that for just now? You were the one pulling me close to you."

"And what are you trying to say with that?" Ino asked sweetly, though her eyes sent a message that he shouldn't say anything wrong just now.

"Uhm... nothing?" he asked sheepish, getting a caring smile from her in return. That answer seemed to be good enough.

A Bar at the outskirts of the village, evening

A group of jonin was sitting around a table, sharing some drinks with each other and playing cards. They were five of them, two women and three men, having a good time enjoying each others company and talking about different things. Though it wasn't too long before the talks landed on the one topic they all had in mind.

"So, just one week left and this year will get the chance to graduate from the Academy and become genin. What do you think of the candidates?" a man with short black hair and beard asked, taking a deep inhale of his cigarette.

"It's an intresting group for sure. All major clan's are present and also some promising clanless kids." Kakashi answered, watching his friend. "Already making plans on what kind of team you want to take?"

The black haird man shrugged at that. "Kind of, yeah. We still need to see who will pass and discuss it with my old man, but he is always willing to listen to the thoughts of the upcomming jonin instructors, so why not plan ahead?"

"Really now, Asuma? You are already playing the 'son of the Hokage' card? The evening is still young, it might be wasted." a blond man asked, shuffling the cards and giving each person present a new hand.

"I wasn't playing it." Asuma shrugged again. "I simply stated that my old man always had an ear for suggestions and would take them into consideration. Though I'm surprised that you haven't have information on that topic, C."

Taking a sip of his sake was it C's turn to shrug. "It's not like I would spy on everything. So, what team to you have in mind?"

"Ah, yeah, you see, we always had some famous shinobi in our village and some clans are real close to each other. You could call it tradition, but the Akimichi, Nara and Yamanaka clans always formed a team. And since we have the childs of each clan head in this years class... thought about taking on these three. As member of the main clan of the village would this be a good thing I guess." taking another inhale of his cigarette was he looking into the round, waiting for others to say their thoughts.

"Hadn't thought of you to be a traditional man." the one woman said. She had shoulder length black hair and red eyes. "Anyway, seeing which kids we have this year, maybe a tracking team? With the sons of the Inuzuka and Aburame together with one of the Hyuga girls. They could find anything."

Kakashi nodded at this thought. "You are right about that, Kurenai, but..." he wasn't finishing his sentence, getting a curious look from Kurenai.

It was C who decided to finish this thought. "It wouldn't be a good idea to pair the Inuzuka together with the little one. Haven't you heard? These two hate each other to the core. I don't really know all the details, but they would have killed each other already if they weren't stopped."

The last person at the table, another woman, burst out into laughter at that, gaining some confused looks from all around the bar. "You don't know all the details? Now that sentence is rare coming from you. I would most likely guess that you do know the details but don't want to share them."

Shrugging it off was C not paying much attention to it. "Think what you want, Anko-chan. It is the truth and it won't change."

"Is it really that bad?" Kurenai pondered aloud, thinking about this information. "But there is still the older one, Hinata. Might work with her then." Seeing the look she was getting from C did she sigh. "Okay, and why is that a bad idea? Please do enlight us non-spies that don't always know everything."

"Huh, I haven't said anything." C answered in mock hurt. "But since you are asking... I wouldn't seperate the sisters at all. The younger is pretty protective over the older. And if you pair the older one with the Inuzuka boy, who the younger one hates..."

"...would this create a situation endangering most likely two teams at the same time." Asuma finished for him. "But it would be a waste to put two Hyuga into the same team. What can you do with them together anyway? Create an all-out close range team? There should at least be one capable of ranged attacks to cover them. But they would still have the same taijutsu style."

"Why not?" Kakashi asked, getting the looks of everyone. "Put them together with the Uzumaki and you get an effective close range team. They are also friends with each other for years and work well together. I'm sure that will work out."

The table became silent for a moment, everyone thinking over the setups they just discussed, when Anko spoke up again. "So, none of you is intrested in the Uchiha brat? Thought he would be the hot stuff to be bartered about."

Kurenai was the first to answer. "I'll totally pass on him. Have you seen his character? That's nothing I could work with. Guess he would be a candidate for Asuma."

Raising an eyebrow was Asuma thinking that over for a bit. "Well, you are right that I could work with his character. But wasn't he all about revenge for his slaugthered clan? That would mean so much work actually training him..."

"You are just too lazy, Asuma." Kakashi countered, getting looks from everyone else. "What?"

"Really now, Spooky? You are calling others lazy while you are the one we meassure lazyness against?" Asuma asked in disbelief.

"And? Doesn't mean that my statement is wrong. You are too lazy to actually train a genin team. I don't even know why you even consider taking one on." Kakashi replied without missing a beat.

Scratching the back of his head and shrugging his shoulders was Asuma trying to avoid the topic, but decided to speak anyway. "Ah, well, it's all because my old man wants me to take on a genin team. That's the whole reason."

"I don't really believe that the Uchiha will actually become genin at all." it was C who changed the topic, the whole table falling silent at that statement. "You see, first of all is he missing one year of Academy and trying to take the test early. While the requirements these kids have to fulfill aren't that high are there hidden requirements as well, giving the teachers the opportunity to still fail them. But even if he gets past this point, I don't see him pass the real genin test that will follow after that."

"That's a first for me of hearing about hidden requirements. Care to share your informations with us, C? But you are right about the real test. I don't see him pass mine." Kakashi stated in thought.

"Sorry, but I'm not allowed. The old man asked me to create a report regarding the genin tests. He is clearly testing my possibilities to better judge what I'm capable of. What kind of spy would I be if I can't dig deep enough to find things nobody knows about?" he had a grin on his face.

"Fair enough. My old man loves his secrets. Anyway, I'm not sure whether the Uchiha would pass or not if he had to take my test." Asuma lighted himself another cigarette and took a deep inhale.

Kurenai shook her head. "He would fail my requirements before even starting I guess. His character is just not fit for me."

Anko, listening to her friends and comrades, had a wide grin on her face. "I never knew all of you would be that sadistic. And with kids that is. Intresting..." getting guilty looks of her friends was she focusing C now. "Hey, care to bet what you got from me?"

"Huh? Sure, if you make it wortwhile for me. I wouldn't risk loosing it for nothing." he replied calmly, ignoring the intrested looks around him. Especially Kakashi seemed intrested, considering he wanted to knew what Anko lost to him since back then.

"How does an A-rank payment sound?" Anko asked, throwing the money on the table.

Nodding his head in agreement did C pull out a joker card out of a hidden pocket, flipping it on the table as well. Though it was no normal joker. Instead of the normal joker image did it showcase the image of black panties.

"Don't tell me you got..." Kakashi's jaw dropped open, clearly visible behind his mask, not believing what he was seeing.

"Hehe, finally I'll get it back from you. Now cry, C!" Anko said grinning, showing her cards. "Four of a kind, all Aces!"

"Sorry to disappoint you, Anko-chan. But they will stay with me. Straight Flush with clubs, nine to king." he showed his cards to her and took the pot, clearly ignoring the glare he got from Anko and the envious look from Kakashi.

Somewhere unknown

It was cold. A feeling Hinata got used to with time passing. She didn't even need to look around to know her situation. She was in a window-less room with a door right in front of her. She also knew that she was naked and down on all four, wearing her collar and unable to speak or move. It was the same nightmare she had when she wore her collar for the first time during sleep. In fact did the nightmare appear from time to time to her, but she never told her sister. Remembering Hanabi's reaction when she told her of having the nightmare for the first time, was she now fearing that telling her of still having this nightmare might escalate the hate between her and Kiba.

Though it wasn't exactly the same nightmare every time. Some small things were always different. The one time could she actually spot the red Inuzuka face markings on the figure standing in the doorframe, another time was a small white dog visible behind the figure. And the things the figure said to her were always different, though they always aimed on training the "puppy" he got here in some way.

But something was totally different this time. While she got used to having this nightmare and waking up covered in sweat could she clearly tell that it felt different this time. She wasn't able to point on anything particular, it just felt differently for her and she didn't liked that feeling. When the door finally opened was she expecting the usual to happen. The shadow of the figure talking to her out of the doorframe. To her surprise however went the nightmare differently this time.

Instead of just standing there was the figure actually walking into the room, becoming clear for her to see. It was indeed Kiba Inuzuka hunting her in her dreams and he had a feral grin on his face. Following by his side was his partner Akamaru, a curious glance in his eyes. "Look partner, the cute puppy came back again. I can tell with just one glance that it's still not trained. But it want to take on a test in that state, what a joke."

A shiver ran down Hinata's spine. She didn't like the look in Kiba's eyes. And worse, she hated that he was still coming closer. She tried her best to wake up, to end this nightmare at this point. Even knowing that it was just a nightmare was she afraid of how this one would develop.

"Now, now, don't be afraid, little puppy." Kiba spoke suddenly to her, looking her right into the eyes from above her, seeing her discomfort. His hand moved in her direction and she wanted to back away, but was still unable to move at all. The moment when he started to pet her head was she totally confused. It kinda felt good to her, the touch was gentle. "See, all's good, little puppy. No reason to be afraid of anything.". Feeling Hinata slightly relax under his hand was he smiling. "Alright partner, feel free to start."

That statement worried Hinata again and she saw Akamaru coming close, stopping right in front of her face, starting to sniff at her. Her eyes got wide when the dog started to slowly walk around her, disappearing out of her sight. She started to blush slightly, feeling his breath on her flank. When a bark came from exactly behind her became the blush even deeper, knowing quite well where exactly the dog was at that moment.

"Heh, you like the smell, partner? I can understand that. It's really a cute puppy." Kiba was carefully stroking her shoulders and the neck. "But you know the rules. A estray needs to be trained first. So, what do you say we start training it now?" he got a confirming bark from Akamaru, sending a new wave of fear through Hinata.

At that moment did she finally got out of her nightmare, sitting upright in her bed, completely covered in sweat and breathing heavy. Her hand snaked to her chest, placing itself right above her heart, trying to calm it down on a normal level. While she got used to these nightmares did she hate the state she was in when she woke up. And this time was it even worse compared to the other times. It was more intense and it was _more_ all together.

It took her some minutes to finally calm down. Once being back to normal was she now taking in her surroundings. It was still her bed in her room and there was nothing strange or different in it. She just couldn't explain her nightmares at all. The moment she lay back down, unsure whether she wanted to go back to sleep or not was she feeling a light pressure around her neck.

'Must be my collar...' she thought to herself, slowly closing her eyes before suddenly opening them wide. 'Wait, my collar?' touching her neck was she confirming that she indeed was wearing her collar right now. 'But I haven't put it on before going to bed. Why am I wearing it? I... that's strange... Maybe I should tell Hanabi after all...'

With this final thought was her mind falling asleep with her body following shortly, the rest of the night being dreamless. Also forgotten for the moment were the things that would happen the next day, the things her sister had planned...


	19. Chapter 18 - Genin Test

_**C's Scouting Report: Genin Test**_

"Alright old man, I know that this request was about testing my abilities. Anyway, no matter for what reason I'm looking into something, I'm doing it right. So here is my report on the thing you call 'genin test' in this village.

On the surface is it pretty simple and totally easy. Too easy, actually. All the Academy students have to do to pass is create some clones, do a substitution and transform into something. It is this way because many civilians are sending their kids to the Academy as well and the village don't want to upset them. But that's just how it is on the outside to keep the village quiet.

It was pretty easy to find out that there will be another, a real genin test afterwards during which the assigned jonin instructors do test them in a way they see fit, to figure out whether they are suited to be genin for real. This real genin test does vary from jonin to jonin and might focus on the most different things a shinobi needs. This is to get rid of the weak and useless genin right away without risking their and others lifes later during missions.

However, I really had to dig deep to find the following: during the first genin test, the easy one that really is just show, are there hidden requirements on which the teachers can decide to actually fail a student, even if he managed to do the three required things. These requirements seem to be one of the better kept secrets of the village. Even the jonin instructors haven't heard about them so far.

The teachers are allowed to judge the character of a student, to take his social competences into consideration. A shinobi team usually forms out of four and with that is the interaction between these needed as well. If a student shows signs of not being able to work with others, of being unsocial during the whole three years of Academy, are the teachers allowed to let them fail the test. Though from what I could find is it ages since that happened the last time. They usually let these cases pass because they would usually fail the real genin test anyway.

So, old man, do you have any more testing for me or will you give me real work now?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 18: Genin Tests**

"Just some more minutes..." Hinata was mumbling, not willing to wake and get up yet. She knew that today was a free day and no Academy, so there was no real reason for her to actually get up this early. Or so she thought were it not for the fact that something else was moving on her bed, touching her body from time to time, keeping her from falling back to sleep.

Figuring that whatever was in her bed wouldn't let her back to sleep was she groaning and slowly opening her eyes. Her sight was blurry and she had problems to see clear yet, though she figured it must be a person, cause she saw something that resembled dark brownish hair. She wasn't exactly sure about it and tried to turn away to maybe get a few more minutes of sleep, hearing a quiet sigh by that action.

"Really now, sis? You know that today is the day. So better get up now or do you want me to get angry at you that early in the morning?" Hanabi asked with slight disappointment in her voice. She was currently sitting above her sister, her legs on either side of Hinata's body, looking down at the face of her still sleeping - or at least not yet really awake - sister.

The voice sounded familiar, but Hinata couldn't really place it. She tried her best to continue sleeping, to ignore whoever was trying to wake her that early in the morning. Sighing again did Hanabi decide to wake Hinata up instantly, and not really gentle at all. Pinching her sisters nose was she cutting her supply of air and Hinata started to struggle lightly, her body however remembering that it could breath through her mouth. The moment she opened her mouth to breath placed Hanabi her other hand over that, effectively cutting that supply of air as well.

Just seconds later were Hinata's eyes wide open and she tried to fight off whoever was denying her the needed air. It were just seconds so far and she could hold her breath for a lot longer, but she quickly realized that she shouldn't let it come into the critical area. "Finally awake, huh?" Hanabi asked, still cutting her sisters air. However, hearing the voice was Hinata slightly calming down and focusing on her sister now. "You know, if I come to wake you up should you better wake up at all. Understood?"

Getting a nod from Hinata and seeing slight fear in her eyes was Hanabi finally letting go of her sister, watching her fill her lungs with air taking some deep breathes. "Don't worry. I know that you are able to hold your breath longer than that and I wouldn't put you in any real danger. Still... I hope this is a lesson for you."

Sitting up in her bed was Hinata nodding again. "Yes. I'm sorry Hanabi. It won't happen again."

"Okay, fine. I'll accept your appology this time." a smile entered Hanabi's face, the usual happy girl being back. "And I see you wore your collar for sleep. That's a good girl. Trying to get used to the feeling of wearing it permanently?"

Hinata raised her hand and touched the collar around her neck, confirming that she indeed wore it before answering. "Actually... I can't remember putting it on. I woke up tonight out of a nightmare and when I tried getting back to sleep did I realize that I was wearing it. But I really can't remember it..."

Pondering her sisters words for a moment was Hanabi filtering the informations she got. "Hmm, maybe you did it unconsious because you knew that you would wear it today?" she suggested to her sister. "And what was that about a nightmare? But it wasn't that bad, right? You would have come to my bed if it were, wouldn't you, Nata-chan?" she couldn't help but use the nickname she gave her sister when they were younger whenever the topic of nightmares came up. After all, some things never change.

Slowly shaking her head was Hinata searching for the best words to speak. "Actually, it was bad, Nabi-chan. It was the same from the night after my 10th birthday... But I don't wanted to bother you with that this night..."

"The same from after your birthday?" Hanabi questioned, trying to remember the details of that specific night, or rather the next morning when her sister told her of the nightmare. And she did remember when her eyes widened in realization. "Wait! You mean you dreamt again of that stupid dogboy trying to train you as his pet?" the anger in her voice was clear to hear.

Hinata wasn't sure if her sister was angry at her for having these nightmares or angry at Kiba for appearing inside them. Not wanting to risk anything was she just nodding as answer, hoping that Hanabi would calm down eventually.

And calming down she did, having more important things on her mind right now than to worry about her sisters nightmares. Taking a deep breath was she focusing Hinata now. "Maybe I should ask Ino-chan to have a look into your mind these days. She might be able to find a reason for your nightmares."

"But... that's scary. What if she finds things she shouldn't know? You know, like clan secrets or something?" Hinata asked hopefully, trying to get her sister away from that thought.

"Hmm... that's a nice try, sis. You are more afraid of her finding out about your true nature, right? But you got a valid point there. I'll think about it. Just remember that if I wanted to let her look is there nothing you could do against it. Anyway..." she put a bright smile on her face. "You shut get up and prepare yourself for the day. I left you a small present in the bathroom I want you to wear today. And keep your collar on."

Looking down on her bed was Hinata speaking quietly. She didn't really wanted to argue with her sister or talk back to her, she was just worried. "I'm... still not really fine of others seeing me with it, Hanabi..."

"You know, they will eventually. Latest when it all is official. But..." she pulled her sister into a hug, comforting her before whispering into her ear. "I'm proud of you for beating me yesterday. And as reward are you allowed to wear your jacket to hide it today. But no talking back to me when we are in the village."

"Thank you, Hanabi." Hinata whispered back and nodded slightly. "I know that you wouldn't do anything too cruel to me."

A smirk entered Hanabi's face hearing that. "Don't challenge me, sis. Anyway, you should get up now. Don't forget to wear the things I prepared for you."

Hinata watched her sister leave the room before getting out of bed herself, aiming for her bathroom. The start of the day wasn't the best she could hope for, but it could have been worse. However, considering the events planned for this day was there still room to become worse at all.

Letting out a long sigh was Hinata looking at the things her sister left for her to wear, making a grimace to herself. "And the day just became worse..." she was mumbling to herself. "I should have known that something like that would happen... after all does Hanabi like to prank others and to tease me..."

Konoha Village

"I was wrong... you are cruel towards me..." Hinata complained, slowly walking behind her sister. She was wearing loose baggy pants and her light brown jacket she usually used to hide her body. From the outside was nothing wrong or strange with the clothes, but she was glaring at her sister anyway.

Looking back over her shoulder to her older sister was Hanabi putting on a sweet smile. "I really don't know what you are talking about. I even allowed you to wear your jacket."

Increasing her speed a little to catch up to her sister and that she could lower her voice was Hinata not really amused. "I can deal with the mesh shirt, I guess." she said quietly. Her hand trailed down to the side of her pants and she was trying to fix what she was wearing. "But why did you have to give me that thong? I hate these things... it feels... strange..." a small blush entered her face, not really comfortable about this topic out in public.

The village was already busy this morning, the citiziens on their way to the market to get some fresh vegetables and other things. It was warm, the birds were singing, it was a day without Academy. The last free day before the genin test would be held next week.

"I was shopping with Ino-chan and thought it would suit you. She even helped me decide on one for you." Hanabi shrugged, not really seeing a problem with that topic or the problem her sister had with it. "After all, if I wanted, I could control so much more of your life. You sure you want to complain about such small things and risk loosing more freedoms?"

Hinata let her head hang. "You start to enjoy the power you got over me, don't you?" she asked quietly, the expression on Hanabi's face being answer enough for her. "Alright, I'll deal with it and stop to complain. I like it the way it is currently."

Hanabi was giggling and pulled her sister close to give her a hug, an honest smile on her face. "I love you, sis, and that will never change. Just don't give me a reason to hurt you and things will always be good for the both of us.". Seeing her sister nod was enough for her and they continued their way towards the Hokage building.

What they didn't noticed were the eyes focusing on them. A figure was standing at the side of the street, leaning against a wall, watching them with a hateful glare. "There they are again. And look at the way they are acting. I tell you, the rumours about them are totally true. I just wonder why nobody else is noticing it?" the figure, a boy, asked aloud.

"Why do you care anyway? I mean, I know that you hate them and all, but does it really matter if the rumours say that Hinata is Hanabi's slave? Maybe it's something clan internal making it valid. Do you know about these things?" a female voice answered him.

"You mean kinda like in my clan where we are allowed to make females our bitches?" the boy asked. "But why are you defending them? I thought you hate them as well?" the boy asked, turning his head to watch the pink haired girl currently checking the contents of a nearby market stand.

Turning towards the boy by that question was she shrugging lightly. "I do, yes. I can't forgive them for what they did to Sasuke-kun. But even if he is one class below us now is he still attending the genin tests, so I guess I'm currently okay, Kiba."

Shaking his head was Kiba watching in disbelief. "Could it be that your whole world is spinning around Sasuke, Sakura? I bet he could treat you like shit and you would still be happy if you are with him, huh?"

"Maybe?" Sakura answered more questiongly than confident. "So what, got a problem with that? I mean, you do realize that if this were the case that it would be similiar to the rumours about the Hyuga sisters, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But I wouldn't care about it because I'm not hating you, Sakura. What do you say, shall we follow them to see what they are up to?"

"Huh, sure, why not. It's not like I would have anything to do today. Lead the way, doggie." she grinned at Kiba who wanted to reply something but didn't, having given up on her using that name for him.

With that were these two on their way to follow the sisters, hoping to witness something they could use against them. Kiba was still hoping for a chance to beat Hanabi up, but he learned from the thing that happened to Sasuke. He was smart enough not to try anything too stupid during Academy, fearing that he might be banned as well. And even more fearing how his mother would react to that.

Sakura on the other hand was just bored that day. While she still blamed the sisters and Naruto for Sasuke's punishment was she kinda peaceful starting the second year of Academy when Sasuke was allowed to attend classes again. However, the deep dislike she had against them was still present and will probably intensify again if anything would happen to the target of her affection.

Hokage Office

Hiruzen Sarutobi was currently reading a report, raising one eyebrow at the language used within. He was clearly not used to read something like that, being used to the formal things his subordinates usually write. However, this report wasn't from his subordinates but from another person he recently started giving jobs to, with that shifting him from passive to active duty.

On a couch at the side of the office sat C, his legs placed on a small table in front of him. He was clearly amused by the reaction he could witness from the Hokage. It was the first official report he submitted to him, having only provided informations from his scouting network prior. Informations about bandits in the surroundings of the village or rumours of movements of the other big villages. The usual stuff scouts and spies pick up without looking into anything in particular.

"I got to say, beside of the way the report is written, am I impressed by it's content." the Hokage started, putting the report aside and watching towards C now. "I wasn't expecting you to find out about the hidden requirements. Tell me, how have you managed to get your hands on that information?"

There was a small grin on C's face. "I'm not entirely sure you want to know my methods, old man, but if you insist. As I mentioned is this something not even the jonin instructors knew about. I got the confirmation on that from the upcomming instructors just yesterday when we sat together for some drinks. And I got this information from one of the Academy teachers. The silver haired one, uhm... Mizuki is his name. A creepy guy in my opinion, but because of that easy to understand. We sat together some days ago, playing cards. And all I had to do was offer the correct motivation and he told me all about it."

"Hmm... I can't believe that Mizuki told you about this secret that easily. I thought of him as someone who would stay shut no matter what. While he is indeed 'creepy' as you put it, is he one of our most trusted teachers. What did you offer him for that information? I'm curious now." pulling out his pipe was Hiruzen starting to relax, waiting for his answer.

"Well, something that is going to kill me if Anko-chan ever finds out that I offered it to someone else. You see, it seems that she is kinda like an unicorn to the younger chunin, forbidden and hard to catch. All I did was offering to bet the belongings I won from her in return for the informations and Mizuki agreed without even thinking about it. Though he hadn't won it and it's still in my posession." simply shrugging was C not really worried, even though he knew that Cat was listening as one of the Hokage's guards and that she would most likely tell her friend Anko. Actually was C expecting just that and looking forward to teasing Anko about that.

"You mean, you..." Hiruzen put his head in his hand and shook it in disbelief. "I'm worried about what might become of my village if you are going around offering to place underwear of well known females as bet during card gambling. I really am. I'm not even sure if I should continue to employ someone like you - weren't it for the fact that there are way too many perverts serving this village in high positions already..."

"Are you by any chance referring to Jiraiya? Or maybe Spooky? See, I'm not half as bad. At least am I discreet about it." the grin on C's face got even wider and could easily be taken as one from a mad man.

"And that's the most worrysome point. While these two are just perverts are you pretty cunning as well. Combined with your abilities as spy..." he let out a long sigh. "I don't want to think about all the things you could do."

"I told you I'm discreet about it. Nothing like that will happen, old man. So, back on topic, are you satisfied with my report?" becoming serious was C waiting for the Hokage's judgement.

Taking a deep inhale from his pipe was Hiruzen thinking about the matter at hand, taking his time to judge each and every detail. After a good five minutes of silence, C got pretty uneasy during that time, was he finally speaking. "Yes, I'm satisfied with the contents of your report. In fact did you do even better than most of our usual staff. Don't get me wrong, they are good at what they do, but being able to dig out that information was just splendid. I hereby appoint you as part of Konoha's scouting and spy network. But you will work independent, considering you do have your own network already."

"Heh, thanks for that, old man. I guess my main responsibility will be to provide you with any useful information I get my hands on and on confirming things your team finds?" there was a satisfied expression on C's face, his whole body relaxed, now that he finally got appointed by the village.

"Sort of, yes. I might also give you tasks to look into things, considering how easy you got on top secret informations. So, is there anything else I can do for you?" a smile was on his face, glad that he now got officially a new and promising subordinate. One he was thankful for, no matter the fact that the first contact was through the kidnapping of kids from Konoha.

Before C could answer however was there a knock on the door and Sarutobi focused on it. "Please enter." he said, watching the door open and the two Hyuga sisters entering his office. It would be an understatement to say that he was surprised. Not only did they knock, usually would Hanabi just charge in, they also weren't in his office for months now, making this a rare visit. "Well, what can I help you with?" he asked, a friendly smile on his face.

"Uhm, you see, there is something I would like to speak to you about." Hanabi started, kinda avoiding the reason of their visit, another rare thing. She usually was the straight forward type when it came to talking.

"Sure, just out with it. I'll listen and help you the best I can." Sarutobi sensed that there was something going on, he just wasn't sure what it might be. But the behavior of the young Hyuga girl was totally different from the usual.

"If it's possible... would we like to speak alone with you, Hokage-sama." she continued, still avoiding any topic, but increasing the suspicion the Hokage had. After all, she never adressed him that formal. And while it was normal that the older Hyuga stayed quiet in her sisters presence could he sense her nervousness.

Thinking about it for a moment was he nodding slightly, giving the ANBU guards a sign to leave. After that was he focusing on C. "If you would be so kind as to leave as well? As you can see is there something serious going on, so..."

Both girls were surprised when the Hokage spoke to someone else, both not having noticed that there was another visitor inside the room. Before they had the chance to turn around however was C already talking and they realized that voice instantly. "Alright old man, got it. Though I would have loved to stay and hear what the girls have to talk about." he had a grin on his face when the girls finally turned around. But he started moving towards the door anyway.

Hanabi looked at her sister for a moment before back towards C before speaking. "Actually... it might be helpful if C stayed..." she said quietly, her sister letting her head hang but slightly nodding by that.

Now that got them the attention of both men inside the room. Getting a confirming nod from the Hokage was C walking back towards the couch, making himself again comfortable while Sarutobi focused on the girls again. "Okay, we are alone now. So will you tell me what this is all about? There are so many things different with you two that I'm fearing the worst."

Taking a deep breath was Hanabi preparing herself. She hadn't thought that she would become that nervous, even starting to doubt if that was a good idea at all. A thought Hinata was having the whole morning. Shaking her head to get her mind back focused did she decide to say it before she would start to struggle. "I am here to request a slave holder license."

The room went completely silent after that. Both girls were nervous, watching the Hokage as his jaw dropped. C sitting on the couch had a smirk on his face but stayed silent. He could guess how hard it might be for Hanabi and he decided that she had to do it by herself.

"You want... what?" the Hokage finally said. "Could you please repeat that?"

Nodding slightly did Hanabi repeat her request. "I said I would like to request a slave holder license, Hokage-sama."

"If this is a joke do I have to tell you that it isn't a funny one..." Sarutobi replied calm, watching the girls carefully, trying to figure if Hanabi was serious.

"It is none, Hokage-sama. If I need to will I repeat my request again. I read into the requirements and I think I will fulfill all of them by next week once I pass the genin test. That's why I would like to request the license now." the confidence was slowly coming back to Hanabi while Hinata felt more and more dreadful.

"Okay, I see. Since you already informed yourself about it should you know that I have to ask you some questions to make sure that you are suitable for one.". Getting a confirming nod from Hanabi did he continue. "I know that you will take the genin test next week and most likely become a shinobi then, so I'll skip that one. Alright, you will need a proper place to hold slaves and ressources to care for them. Do you have these?"

"My name is Hanabi Hyuga, I'm the heiress of the Hyuga clan. Our clan compound has enough space to give them a room and I'm having access to ressources to care for them, yes."

"Fine, next point. You are aware that as slave holder you need to be able to always verify that your slaves are legal? Meaning that they are yours by legal means, either being captured enemies, people working off a debt for a limited amount of time or by their own free will." he was watching the reaction of the girl in front of him carefully, still unsure if she was serious or not.

Again nodding was she confirming these points. "I am aware of these things and that I need to register a slave by any means."

"Correct. Last point." he took an inhale from his pipe. "You will be responsible for any action a slave will do. Meaning you need to have a close eye on them or deep trust, maybe even both. That can be way too much for you to handle."

"And I will be able to, Hokage-sama." she looked him straight in the eyes, totally focused with no doubt present.

Sighing did the Hokage nod. "Okay, I will prepare the papers for you. While I'm on it, shall I prepare the registration of a slave as well?" he only asked it formally because it's part of the process. He wasn't expecting any positive reply on that question at all, still thinking that the girl in front of him was here maybe just out of a mood or something. Having read about it and just wanting to fool around.

"Yes, please do so, Hokage-sama." it were just a few words, but they were enough to shock the mightiest man of the village. What none of them saw was the amused look of C, who barely managed to hold back his laughs. All of them seemed to have forgotten his presence and he was totally enjoying the show.

"You... are serious?" he asked in disbelief, eyeing the girl in front of him carefully. Did this ten year old girl just said she wanted to register a slave? No, surely not, his ears must be getting bad with his age. However, seeing the confirming nod was he slightly afraid to ask, but he did anyway. "Okay, and the name is?"

"Hinata Hyuga." - it were two simple words, but they were enough to completely change the mood inside the room.

"WHAT?" shouting out in disbelief was his mood changing as well, the two girls standing in front of him winced at that outburst. "Alright, that's enough! This is beyond funny now!"

Unable to hold it in was C finally bursting out into laughter. "That's hilarious, like, totally. It was worth staying if just for that."

"It's no joke..." Hanabi said quietly, but wasn't heard inside the commotion that started in the room. Turning around to her sister was she looking her into the eyes. "Sis, tell him."

Hinata sighed but pulled down the zipper of her jacket and making a step forward, opening it to reveal the collar around her neck. Sarutobi watched this wary and C somehow managed to calm down, bringing the room to a silent enough level that Hinata could talk. "She is serious, Hokage-sama. I am Hanabi's slave and she is here to officially register me..." she was talking quietly, but she was heard. There was also a crimson blush entering her face by openly admitting that fact to someone else, the Hokage of all people. It also was the last step for her to fully accept her role in life.

It stayed quiet for a while and both girls were totally nervous, not sure what would happen next. When the Hokage finally spoke did they feared the worst. "Does Hiashi-sama, does your father know about that?"

Hanabi shook her head. "Not yet. Or at least haven't we told him yet. Not sure if he figured it out by himself though..."

"How long?"

"A good five years by now..." Hinata admitted quietly. "And yes, it's legal. A combination of a debt and my own will..." the blush on her face intensified, if that was possible at all.

He eyed them for a while, thinking about things, before shifting towards C. "And by your reaction do I guess you knew about that?"

Shrugging his shoulders and still trying to supress some laughter was he answering relaxed. "Well, I guess. You know my business after all and I had them in my care for a short amount of time. When we captured them back then did I do my research on the kids and there was a rumour around at that time. It wasn't hard to confirm that, having them both tied up and waiting to be sold."

Shaking his head was the Hokage palming his face. "The way you are saying that sounds so wrong..." he got a grin from C before focusing back on the girls. "Okay, fine, I will prepare the papers. But you two are aware that even if Hinata passes the genin test that she won't be able to be a kunoichi? A slave is property and property won't be set on active duty. Her life as kunoichi will be over the moment it starts."

Hinata's eyes went wide in fear, unable to say anything. Hanabi paled at that information, starting to mumble. "Really? I... didn't knew... must have overlooked that information..." she looked down on the ground, not sure what to do.

Getting up from the couch was C walking towards the girls, eyeing them for a moment before talking to the Hokage. "You know, boss, it's not nice to scare young girls. There is a simple loophole that can be used to solve that problem."

"A loophole?" Both the Hokage and Hanabi spoke at the same time, watching him with confusion written all over their faces.

"Yeah, a loophole. Somebody may stop me if I'm saying something wrong." after getting a nod from the Hokage was he starting to explain. "The major clans within Konoha do have their own codes of honor and clan rules that differ from the laws of the village but are accepted by it at the same time. The village on the other side agreed to leave clan internal stuff to the clans and to not interfere with them. So if you mark the registered slave as related to a clan rule can the village still accept it as an active shinobi. Hell, it's even super easy to use this loophole in this case, considering both girls are from the same clan. Beside, I do believe that even the reason for this situation is based on their clan code of honor in the first place. It wouldn't even be a lie."

The room went silent again, three pairs of eyes watching C. Seeing the different looks he was getting, though there still was confusion in all of them, was he shrugging. "What? Surprised that I know about clan rules and stuff? Informations are my business and getting them on the village I live in was the first thing I did. Or are you confused that I know this loophole? Remember, I worked in this area for a long time. Hell, I guess that is the reason why the girls said I could stay in the first place. And this loophole is easy to use in this case. There is no need to use tricks to get the slave into the clan category this time."

"I would be afraid to have you as an enemy. All our secrets would be in danger. Am glad that you decided to join our village." the Hokage stated with slight fear in his voice before shaking his head to clear his mind, focusing on the girls. "You heard the man. I will prepare all the papers. Since you know about the responsibilities and duties that come along with it do I see no reason to decline your request. Though I would suggest that you inform your father about it before it's official..."

"We will... probably." Hanabi said quietly but nodded anyway. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. We will be leaving now."

Watching the girls leave the room was Sarutobi turning towards C. "Is it really that simple or were you just trying to comfort the girls?"

"Huh? Why would I do that? Sure it's that simple. It's actually the easiest within Konoha with the way your laws are set. It's just that we never sold any slaves to your village cause nobody seems to be intrested in taking some on. Well, okay, nobody besides Jiraiya." he shrugged.

"I don't want to know that, do I?" he was feeling his age today and he was seriously thinking about passing his job on to the next generation.

"Guess not. I would also advice of not letting this information about the girls slip to him. It might be... catastrophal."

Nodding in agreement was Sarutobi taking a bottle of sake out of his desk, taking a deep gulp of it. He knew that these two girls together with Naruto were a guarantee for trouble, but he never expected it to be that bad. And he feared what might happen if it gets public known, even so the girls were right: Hanabi fulfilled everything to request the license and according to the laws did he have to create it for her, if she passes the genin test, entering the ranks of shinobi of the village.

Outside the building

The girls were just leaving the building with Hanabi being more or less satisfied with the way the talk turned out. After all was she doing the right thing in accordance to the villages law, by registering her sister as her slave. But her good mood changed pretty quick after leaving the building.

"So, what were you doing with the Hokage, huh?" a voice called out to them from behind. They didn't even need to turn to know who it was, knowing the voice quite well.

"Nothing that should intrest you, dogboy." Hanabi answered while turning around, seeing Kiba lean on the wall next to the entrance, his arms cross over his chest.

"Funny, but I am intrested. After all is there no real reason for Academy students to visit the Hokage. You were begging for any kind of advantage for the genin tests, weren't you?" he parted from the wall, walking towards the girls.

"Leave us alone, I'm not in the mood for this..." Hanabi hissed through gritted teeth, trying to hold her temper. Both were smart enough to not start a fight that close to the tests but she wouldn't be surprised if Kiba actually tried to provoke her into starting one anyway.

Deciding that Hinata doesn't wanted to get involved was she walking towards a nearby bench and sat down on it while Hanabi and Kiba got into one of their, at least by now, vocal fights. She actually tried a few times to play negotiator between these two, to somehow help solving the tensions, but it was no use.

Closing her eyes was she simply waiting for them to be finished when a voice next to her got her attention. "Hey." was all the female voice said. Opening her eyes and looking towards the source of it saw she Sakura taking a seat right next to her on the bench.

"Hey..." she replied, eyeing the pink haird girl wary. "Are you here because you want to start a fight too?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, not today. I was just bored and had nothing to do today, so I joined Kiba. Besides, our truce is still in effect, isn't it?"

Hinata made a grimace at that mention. "Yeah, it is. We agreed to get out of the others way to not worsen our relation further... So, what do you think how long will they argue this time?"

"I don't know." Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "The last time did they yell at each other for 30 minutes, didn't they? Think it will be less, considering we are right in front of the Hokage building. What were you doing there anyway?"

"We just had some clan business with Hokage-sama. We are the heiresses after all." Hinata answered without missing a beat and shrugged her shoulders as well. It was an universal lie she came up with some time ago to avoid speaking about a topic she was uncomfortable with, like her being a slave. And it wasn't even that much of a lie, considering it is a clan related thing in some way. "Prepared for the tests?"

"Sure. It's not like they would be hard or something. I can do the three required jutsu without even trying. You?"

"It will work out I guess. Huh, seems you were right. Look, ANBU is coming."

Sakura and Hinata were both watching when an ANBU appeared in front of the building after just five minutes to solve the arguing and to restore quiet and peace. The ANBU, realizing who the two troublemakers were, made a mental note of it before splitting the two apart, giving them a warning to not get involved like that again.

Kiba stormed off down the street while Hanabi came over to the bench. Seeing the pair who was sitting there did she sigh, but wasn't commenting on it. She knew that the tensions between Sakura and Hinata were not as bad as her own with Kiba. "Common sis, we should go. There is still things to do."

Nodding to that was Hinata getting up from the bench, ignoring Sakura before following her sisters to whatever location she had in mind. After all was the visit with the Hokage the only thing planned for that day. Maybe some more training or getting home? She would follow her sister anyway.

Academy, day of the Genin Tests

The day has finally come. The day on which the Academy students got the chance to become genin. Most of them were excited for this day, appearing earlier than needed. While none of them knew exactly what they had to do to pass the test, the teachers told them to simply perform the three jutsu they learned, were some of them suspicious that it can't be that easy.

One after the other were the students entering their classroom, sitting down at their desks and chatting with each other. The sisters were already sitting on their places when Ino entered the room, coming over to her desk and sitting down without even greeting the sisters.

"What's wrong Ino-chan? You look like... shit. You there?" Hanabi asked, waving her hand in front of Ino's eyes, trying to get her attention.

It took a while for Ino to actually react on that, moving her eyes to look at the girl next to her before looking down her own body. Her clothes were dirty and cramped and she could only guess right now that her hair might be everything but straight and that her face looked exhausted. Shrugging her shoulders was she answering quietly. "That's all the fault of Naruto... He tends to overdo it while training and since I volunteered to help him... I got home, fell into my bed the way I was and just walked here after awakening this morning..."

"Is it really that bad?" Hinata asked worried about both her friends.

"Yeah... I really don't know where all his energy is coming from. Or how I managed to stand back up to train even more with him when I thought I couldn't move a single muscle anymore..." closing her eyes was Ino trying to relax a little, worried if she would actually have energy for the test that was to come.

"Why aren't you telling him when you are out of energy? He does listen to us... sometimes..." Hanabi pondered aloud.

"Heh, like the one time few days ago? He nagged me til I agreed for one more time, nearly putting him in the hospital... I got to say, he really has improved with his staff, but to defend himself from an elemental attack is still too much for him." Ino told her friends, her eyes still closed.

"You... nearly put him into the hospital?" it was Hinata asking, slight anger in her voice, but not enough for Ino to hear in her current state.

She shrugged at that. "Well, kinda. But we had a river nearby and he wasn't catching fire, so nothing serious happened."

Before Hinata could say anymore was Hanabi speaking up. "Just please be careful when training with him. You don't want to mark him the way I'm marked, right?" she asked quietly, her fingers trailing over her burn scar. "Anyway, are you available tomorrow, Ino-chan? I could need your help with something."

That got Ino's attention and she opened her eyes, looking at the younger sister. "I guess. Something important you need to do before the teams are announced in two days? That is, if we pass..."

Putting on a reassuring smile did Hanabi nod. "Don't worry, we will pass. All of us. And yes, something like that. I'll give you the details tomorrow when we meet, okay?"

Simply nodding was Ino closing her eyes again, trying to get a bit more rest before the test would start. What she didn't saw was that Naruto entered the classroom, spotting his friends and walking up to them. She heard him however when he spoke up.

"Good morning Hinata-chan, Hanabi-chan, Ino-chan." He mustered the state Ino was in while scratching the back of his head sheepish before adding "And sorry for working you so hard, Ino-chan. I got a bit too excited and wanted to continue."

"Yeah, sure, whatever. You are a slavedriver, you know that?" Ino answered without really thinking about it, missing all three of her friends flinch because of her closed eyes.

The sisters and Naruto looked at each other for a moment before Naruto spoke up again. "That's nothing you should joke about... because... well, you know." he said quietly that only Ino and the sisters could hear him. They managed to keep the fact of the kidnapping a secret, beside of the few people that managed to get knowledge about it. To their surprise was also nobody telling it around, not even Kiba.

"Sorry... I wasn't really thinking..." Ino sighed, opening her eyes again and giving them an honest smile as appology.

Before they could discuss the matter more was Iruka entering the classroom, signaling his class to take their seats. He waited for them all to settle down and started to explain how the tests would work.

"Okay, here is how these tests will work. We will call you one by one in alphabetical order into the next room where you have to perform the three jutsu you have learned. Meaning we want to see you creating clones, substitute with an object and transform into another person. There will be three of us teachers there judging your performance and, if we decide that you pass, give you your headband right away. If you got your headband please go back into this classroom and wait for the others to be over with their tests. If you don't pass are you free to go home. Any questions?"

Seeing that none of his students raised a hand or spoke up was he nodding. "Fine. Please stay calm while you wait. Shino Aburame, you are the first. Please follow me."

The class watched their teacher and classmate leave the room and the moment the door closed did nearly all of them start to chat with each other. Naruto walked over to Ino and the sisters who also started to talk again.

"I can't believe that it really is that simple. I mean, what can you do out there with just these three jutsu?" Hinata asked, looking at her friends. "It would have been the same result if we had known these jutsu... if it weren't for Spooky coming for us wouldn't we be here..." she talked quietly enough that no other student in the room could hear her because of the general talking around them.

"Say that again... The only thing different could be that I wouldn't have this stupid scar if I would have been able to substitute with something to avoid the fire..." Hanabi sighed, her fingers digging into the burn scar again. That really became a habit of hers, whenever she talked about things she felt uneasy with, was nervous or under high tension.

"But..." Ino started, watching her friends and pondering how to phrase it without sounding wrong. "Be honest. If these things wouldn't have happened to you would none of you be as strong as you are now, right? I mean, these things were the whole reason for you to intensify your training and to learn new things as well. And without that would I also just know my clan's jutsu and that's it. It were you who made me understand that I need more."

"Well, I guess you are right, Ino-chan." Naruto said, slightly nodding. "It's just stupid that there always need to happen something bad before things will change... And sometimes even if bad things happen is nothing changing... I still don't know why nearly everyone is hating me. Don't want to think about what might be if I hadn't met all of you." he shrugged a bit helpless, giving the girls a warm and thankful smile.

While they were talking was the classroom becoming a bit quieter and emptier, some of the civilian kids attempting Academy not coming back from the tests. They barely registered a voice calling out for Hanabi Hyuga as next, but at least Hinata heard it. "It's your turn, Hanabi. Show them that age doesn't matter." she giggled seeing the smirk on her sisters face before Hanabi made her way out of the room and to the next one.

Entering the room was she scanning the area quickly, spotting the three teachers sitting behind the teachers desk, so she made her way in front of them, giving them a polite bow. "Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei and... uhm..." she pondered the third teacher sitting next to the other two but couldn't place the sturdy man. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I know you."

The third man gave her a warm smile. "It's okay, I never teached your class so it's to be expected. But you are here for your test, so... Iruka, it's your class."

"Right. As I said before, all you got to do is perform the three jutsu and we will judge them. I guess you won't be having any problems with them, Hanabi." he gave her a reassuring smile and Hanabi nodded in reply.

Taking a deep breath was she concentrating on her chakra, starting with a simple hand sign, creating 3 identical clones of herself, all of them smiling towards the teachers. Iruka and the sturdy man nodded satisfied, but the silver haird Mizuki quickly picked up a piece of chalk and tossed it precisely at the second Hanabi from the left. This all happened in just a split second; the chalk hit the floor after flying over a chair that quickly appeared out of a small smokescreen with Hanabi standing in the first row of seats now.

"Hey! With that speed could you have hurt me badly..." Hanabi pouted, glaring at the chuckling Mizuki.

"True. But your enemy won't hold back just because you are a small girl. They won't make any difference and kill you anyway." Mizuki replied, an evil glint in his eyes.

"You don't need to be that harsh to Hanabi, Mizuki. Anyway, a succesful substitution and good reflexes as well. That was the second jutsu." Iruka said with a happy tune in his voice.

"Pfft, you are too weak when it comes to your students, Iruka. And especially this one, just ten years old. She needs to learn how this world works. It won't help if you don't show her the things that might happen." Mizuki replied with a bored tune, crossing his arms below his head and relaxing on his chair.

Hanabi had to bite her tounge to stop her from yelling at Mizuki, barely able to not spill the information about the kidnapping and that she was fully aware of many of the bad things out there.

"Alright, that's enough. Hanabi, if you would please come back in front of us and show us a transformation? After that will you be done." Iruka was trying his best to stay calm, but he was close to hitting Mizuki, being one of the few that actually knew about the kidnapping and what Hanabi went through already.

Simply nodding was she walking towards the teachers and performed a handsign, being covered in smoke for a short moment before being revealed as her sister Hinata.

Mizuki was raising an eyebrow at that transformation, but before he could even start to say something was the sturdy teacher faster to reply with basicly the same thought on his mind. "Well, that's too easy, young lady. You and your sister look too much alike. We can't accept that as a working transformation."

"Okay, fine, if you insist." she shrugged, making the handsign again, appearing as Ino once the smoke was settled down again. "Is that more to your liking?" she asked with a sweet smile on her face that would suit Ino quite good.

"It is, Hanabi. I'm totally satisfied with your performance and I think my collegues here are as well." looking left and right was he getting confirming nods from his co-teachers. "Please come close that I can hand over your headband to you."

Doing as told did she step forward, receiving the headband from her teacher with a happy smile on her face. "Well done, Hanabi. You have earned it. And since I know of your additional training am I sure that you will become a great kunoichi. Please inform your sister, she will be next."

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei. I will continue to do my best and I will inform her." she bowed politely and turned to leave, when Iruka's voice stopped her.

"Oh, right, I nearly forgot." he opened a drawer of the desk he was sitting at, pulling out some papers while Hanabi turned back around to watch him curiously. "Hokage-sama asked me to hand these papers over to you if you pass. He said you would know about and wait for them."

Taking a quick look on the papers and seeing the title of the one on top did she nod. "Ah, yes, thanks again, Iruka-sensei.". Realizing that Mizuki was trying to get a peek on the papers was she quickly snatching them away, nearly starting to run out of the room.

"Weren't that..." Mizuki started, but Hanabi wasn't hearing the end of it because she slammed the door closed. That scary teacher of her doesn't need to know what she just received there. Quickly putting them away was she heading back to the her classroom, entering it with a bright smile.

Some of her classmates who doesn't really know her were surprised that she actually managed to pass the test, but she wasn't paying them much attention. Arriving back at her seat was she still smiling. "It's really just these three jutsu. Totally easy. Your turn, sis." nodding was Hinata getting up to leave, when Hanabi decided to escort her out of the room, whispering into her ear. "And watch out for Mizuki-sensei. He is trying to being unfair. Kind of attacked me to see my substituion..."

"Don't worry, I'm sure that I will pass as well." Hinata said with confidence in her voice and aiming for the other classroom, while Hanabi waited in front of their class for her sisters return.

A good ten minutes later was Hinata coming back, holding her headband with both hands in front of her, a smile on her face. "Well done, sis. Had any problems with Mizuki-sensei?"

"No, none regarding the test. But he tried to ask me about some papers you got earlier." she shrugged. "But I don't know about any papers, so..."

"That's not too important anyway. I'll tell you later. Well, let's get back to our friends, shall we?" Hanabi smiled back at her sister, happy that both of them passed the test.

Once inside was Hinata informing Kiba that he was next before joining her sister and friends to chat some more. The topics however wasn't much intrested, basicly just some smalltalk and just a short while later was the sturdy techer entering the room, calling for Naruto.

"Good luck, Naruto-kun." Hinata said smiling to him and he smiled back to her.

"Don't worry, Hinata-chan, I'll pass this test without any problems. Believe it!"

Leaving the classroom and entering the hallway was he trying to supress a thought that came up. 'Well, at least if Iruka-sensei will accept my not working clones...'. Shaking his head to get his mind clear was he aiming for the next classroom, seeing Sasuke Uchiha in the distance, passing around a corner. "Right, he was attending the tests as well, but isn't in our class anymore. Wonder where he is going." he spoke to himself before shrugging it off, entering the next room to attend his own test.

"Ah, Naruto, let's start right away, shall we?" Iruka was still having a smile on his face.

"Okay, Iruka-sensei." Naruto confirmed before concentrating, doing the handsigns for the transformation first, appearing in the form of the Hokage after the smoke settled down. Scanning the room quickly was there another smokescreen and in his place stood a metal bucket.

Wondering where the bucket came from were the three teacher scanning the room as well, spotting Naruto in a corner behind them. "The cleaning supplies, creative." the sturdy teacher chuckled. "But the Hokage transformation wasn't. Still, it's an acceptable one, considering we are teaching that form during classes."

"Very well, Naruto. Now if you could please come back and show us your clone jutsu?" Iruka asked.

Slowly walking back to the teachers was Naruto scratching the back of his head. "Ah, yeah, sure thing, Iruka-sensei... but I'm not sure if they will work this time..." reaching the spot in front of the teachers was he creating the signs for the clone jutsu, creating two clones of himself which both looked kinda ill and hadn't really have substance, being see-through.

"You call this a clone jutsu?" Mizuki started to laugh. "Want to distract and kill your opponents with this weak performance? Want them to laugh themselfs to death? Totally failed!"

"What?" Naruto shouted in anger. "It's not my fault! It's because I'm having too much chakra! Iruka-sensei, you know that. We talked to you after the girls checked me with their Byakugan and you said that I should simply try my best with this jutsu..."

"Yes Naruto, I know about that. And you are right, controlling that much chakra is hard and even jonin might not be able to do it." glaring at Mizuki for a moment did he continue. "I'll tell you that you have passed, Naruto. Taking your situation into consideration was the result okay."

"You can't be serious!" Mizuki started to protest. "Letting him pass with this weak performance? Him? No way!"

All of them looked at the sturdy teacher who shrugged slightly. "I'm with Iruka here. He has earned his pass in my opinion. Give him his headband."

Mizuki was grumbling while Iruka handed a headband over to Naruto. "Congratulations. Now, please go back to class and send Ino over. She will be the last one. After that will I come back to all of you, giving you some last instructions."

"Alright Iruka-sensei, got it." Naruto grinned from ear to ear when he left the room, totally happy that he passed the test and would be a shinobi now.

15 minutes later were all students that passed sitting in their classroom with Iruka entering. "Alright everyone, I'm proud that you all managed to pass the genin test. I know that you want to go home to tell the good news to your families which is why I will skip my speech. You will have a free day tomorrow and have to be back the day after for your team assignments. Understood? Good, you may leave now."

On their way out of the Academy were the four of them talking. "Can you believe that? Mizuki-sensei wanted to let me fail because of the clone jutsu..." Naruto told his friends, still a bit upset about that.

"But you have to be honest, Naruto, your clones really aren't that great. I mean... you can't even say it would be clones at all." Ino said thinking aloud, remembering the times the jutsu had to be performed in class.

"It's not his fault." Hinata replied. "We checked him after he failed over and over again. Naruto-kun has way more chakra than any of us. Iruka-sensei said that even a jonin might have problems with chakra control with that amount. It's no wonder that he isn't able to do a proper clone."

"Yeah, that were his words. But I had the feeling like Mizuki-sensei tried everything to let us fail... think he doesn't like us and just wanted to see us fail. He attacked me seriously during the test and might had put me into the hospital if I hadn't reacted quick enough." Hanabi sighed, remembering the split second she had to react on the chalk. She wouldn't admit it, but she was too slow, the chalk having made contact right between her breasts before she could substitute away. If she had shown the pain she felt, maybe she would have failed the test.

"I never liked him either to be honest. Glad it's over." Ino agreed while they reached the yard in front of the Academy, a smile entering her face. "Well, there's my father, gotta go. See you tomorrow, Hanabi-chan." she gave them all a wave and raced over to her father, hugging him tightly.

"Oh, you already planned something for tomorrow?" Naruto asked the sisters at Ino's words, slight disappointment swinging within his voice.

"We do. There is something I need her help with." Hanabi confirmed. "But we could meet afterwards. How does ramen for lunch sound to celebrate?" she gave Naruto a smile and his eyes lighted up.

"Sounds good. Looking forward to it!" he cheered to them before suddenly falling silent, getting the attention of the girls. "Hey, over there, isn't that Sasuke? I wonder if he passed. I saw him walking away from the test room when I was on my way to it."

"I don't know... shouldn't he have been in our class if he passed? I mean, to get the instructions for being there for the assignments?" Hinata wondered aloud, touching her lip with her finger.

"You think he failed, sis? Wait... that's Mizuki-sensei approaching him. I wonder what's going on..." Hanabi said before widening her eyes. "Did... Sasuke just tried to hit Mizuki-sensei? He seems to be upset... might have really failed."

"Shall we get closer? I can't hear anything..." Hinata complained. "They are talking... both seem to be tense."

"And nos is Sasuke racing away. What was that about?" Naruto wondered aloud. "Isn't the Hokage tower in this direction? Got a bad feeling about that... Shall we follow him?" he looked at the girls, getting a shrug from Hinata.

"Well, it does look suspicious, doesn't it? And..." taking the headband out of her pocket was Hanabi raising it. "...we are shinobi now, right? Might as well investigate."

All three of them nodded, taking their own headbands from where they had them stored. Naruto was tying it around his forehead, Hinata let her hang loose around her neck and the Hanabi, not exactly sure how she wanted to wear hers, tied it around her forehead as well for now. Nodding again to each other were the three of them following Sasuke towards the Hokage tower...

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 ** _Author's Note:_** Okay, I'm honestly a bit unsure about that chapter. I can't point on something in detail, it's just a feeling. Hope you have enjoyed it - feel free to give me any form of feedback on it, if you want.

Guess most of you can figure out the way I'm going to walk down now, but I promise that there will be some surprises as well - after all did I differ so many things already (some planed, others not), that there won't be much according to the original anymore ;-)  
More from me once the next chapter is written - or if you want to talk about this chapter, the story in general or random topics, feel free to just hit me up. I'll always respond, promised.


	20. Chapter 19 - Team Assignments

_**Author Note:**_ Heh, I had faith that I would finish this chapter this year. Hope you will enjoy it and a big thanks for still reading ;-)

It's really 6 months already that I started to write this story - time's running fast if you are busy. And since we have the end of the year do I want to tell you how awesome you are in my eyes. So here comes my own personal flashback of 2016:  
Story Followers: 147  
Story Favorites: 125 - really, these numbers are great to me, considering I'm totally new to this site and writing and stuff and knowing that my writing was bad in the beginning. Like, totally...  
Also close to 400 different people seemed to have reached my previous chapter. Never really thought I would get that much attention (though I guess it's low compared to others, but who cares?)  
I'm even on the alert list of 27 users here. And that after stating that I won't plan any other story so far - thanks for your faith. I mean it ;-)

So, yeah, have fun with the recent chapter and have a good start for 2017. I promise that I'll continue this story - there are some funny things ahead (and some creepy ones as well) before the Wave arc starts.  
Still think writing fighting scenes is one of my weak points though... *grumbles*

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 _ **C's Scouting Report: The new genin**_

"Okay boss, here is the list you asked for. The most promising new genins from this year, listed in alphabetical order together with their strengths, weaknesses and other intresting information I could dig out:

Aburame Shino: Heir of the Aburame clan and, like all members of this clan, user of Secret Art jutsu based on the bugs they are befriended with. He is using bugs that drain the chakra out of their victims, leaving them defenseless or even dead, if that's the goal. Strong in offense and defense with his bugs, he actually can sacrifice a lot of them to block attacks, but currently pretty weak in taijutsu. If anyone is getting close will he get problems.

Akimichi Chouji: Heir of the Akimichi clan. Uses his clans special taijutsu, based on enlarging body and limbs. Eats a lot of food in order to get the energy needed for these jutsu. Has no real talent for nin- or genjutsu. He has a lot of potential and would do much to protect his friends, but his goodheart nature may often come in his way as well. He needs to get over it. Has a serious temper issue if called "fat".

Haruno Sakura: The only civilian based kid on my list. A real smart girl that also seems to posses a lot of strength, but can't really use it yet. She also has a real temper issue and is obsessed with the heir to the Uchiha clan. Does have potential, if she's getting over her two major weaknesses.

Hyuga Hanabi: Second heiress of the Hyuga clan. User of her clans special taijutsu style, the Gentle Fist. Also trains in using her Earth nature chakra after first meeting with me, with this basicly being the first Hyuga to actually work with elemental jutsu. Right now the only registered slave holder in the village. Usually a happy girl, but she does have a serious temper issue.

Hyuga Hinata: First heiress of the Hyuga clan. Same skills and background as her sister Hanabi, just with Water nature chakra. Currently the only registered slave in the village. She's hard to split from her sister and usually pretty quiet, but can also get a temper if given the chance or being alone.

Inuzuka Kiba: Heir of the Inuzuka clan and, like all members of this clan, user of Beast Combination jutsu together with his partner Akamaru. Great in tracking and speed but gets easily provoked and tends to charge in blindly. Thinks of himself as the greatest.

Nara Shikamaru: Heir of the Nara clan. Outwards just a lazy boy, but I tell you, he's a genius just like his father. Always complaining about everything being too troublesome but if he puts his mind on it, will he analyze everything within a short amount of time. Uses shadow based jutsu, property of his clan.

Uzumaki Naruto: Last Uzumaki in the village and with this most likely the heir of the clan. Also the vessel of the nine-tailed fox, though there are no known contacts between vessel and prisoner so far. Due to his state, of which he isn't aware, is he hated by most villagers. For reasons still unknown without any elemental chakra nature, uses a three-segment staff as weapon. Very protective of his friends, but tends to loose his temper quickly.

Yamanaka Ino: Heiress of the Yamanaka clan. User of her clans signature Mind Transfer jutsu. Managed to figure out that this jutsu alone was nothing and is training on her Fire nature chakra. Is also called the 'Queen of Gossip' and might be a good spy in the future.

That's it for the most promising genin this year. An advice based on personal observations: keep the Inuzuka seperated from the Hyuga. There are high tensions between them and, if given the chance, could this result in unnecessary deaths. Still not sure what started it in the first place, but it clearly went out of control by now."

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 **A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 19: Team Assignments**

"Where is he?" Naruto asked, standing in the middle of a road crossing in the village. "We can't have lost him, can we?" he was looking towards the girls next to him, both having their Byakugan activated, scanning the area on search for Sasuke Uchiha.

"I'm not sure. He was clearly running in the direction of the Hokage tower, but I can't see him anywhere between our location and the building." Hanabi replied, her eyes twitching under the intense usage of her bloodline.

"Can't see him anywhere left or right of us either." Hinata added, her eyes darting from side to side, trying to cover a wide area with her sight. "Maybe he changed directions and ran away from the tower? Or he's way faster now and already there? Anyway, we should still aim there as well and not stand here at all."

"Good point, sis. Quickly towards the tower. We have to find him to see if our feeling is right or not."

They started running again, the girls still scanning the surroundings. They all had a bad feeling about this situation and wanted to make sure that nothing bad happens. After all had Sasuke tried to kill Naruto because he couldn't beat him in a spar nearly three years ago. Who knew what he might do if he really failed the genin test?

Some minutes later when they were nearing the Hokage tower was Hinata speaking up. "I found him. He's already far north of the tower, heading towards the northern forest. And he's carrying something... looks like a big scroll to me. Not sure what it is."

Hanabi felt a stinging pain in her scar at the mention of the forest. "Why the northern one?" she grumbled. "I hate that place... bad memories.". Sighing in frustration was she changing her track, following her sister who spotted the target they were following.

"Think he stole it or something? Why else would he have it with him? Must be valueable..." Naruto pondered aloud, following the girls as well. They were determined to do what needed to be done - or to find out what needed to be done in the first place before actually doing it. At least confronting Sasuke to ask him about it was a good start in their opinion and the thing they should do as new shinobi of the village. None of them thought about informing anyone though. Against their better knowledge were they charging straight into a situation they had no information about, something they actually wanted to avoid. They were hyped from passing the test, failing to analyze the situation.

It took them a good twenty minutes before they reached a clearing in the northern forest, seeing Sasuke sitting on a tree stump, reading inside the scroll. The girls were taking positions slightly hidden behind trees while Naruto was walking out into the clearing, aiming straight for the Uchiha.

"Sasuke!" he shouted out, getting the attention of the black haird boy. "What are you doing there?"

Looking up from the scroll was Sasuke looking towards the voice, realizing who it was. He mustered him for a short moment before growling out. "How the hell did they let you pass, idiot? Still the favorite of Iruka, huh? There is no way you could have passed without him letting you." he was glaring at Naruto, anger strongly within his voice.

"What do you mean? Don't say you haven't passed? What happened? And what are you doing here?" Naruto asked a bit confused, not exactly sure what was going on. He was still slowly walking towards Sasuke though.

"That stupid Iruka said I wasn't fit to be a shinobi because of my character, declining me the headband. And Mizuki agreed right on the spot. Idiots, all of them. I could easily beat them in a fight, what more do they want?"

Thinking about that for a short moment was Naruto slowly nodding. "You know, they do have a point. You tried to kill me, remember?"

"And you are annoying. I should have really finished you off. Maybe I should correct that mistake now?". Sasuke was standing up, placing the scroll on the ground, and got into a fighting stance.

"No need for that. All I want is to know what's with you and Mizuki-sensei and this scroll there." he was shrugging lightly, but his hand wandered down on his thighs, ready to pull his staff segments to defend himself.

"I see, so you were spying on me and decided to follow me? That's something I don't like at all. Prepare yourself, idiot, and face the consequences." there was hate in Sasuke's eyes and he was ready to attack Naruto.

But before he could start a fight was a voice calling out to them, stopping any move they might have done, their heads turning towards the source of it. "Well, look what we have here. Sasuke Uchiha that got me my scroll and the demon, all by himself, trying to play hero, huh?"

It was Mizuki, standing on top of a branch, watching the scene in front of him. He had an oversized shuriken strapped on his back and an evil smirk on his face. "Honestly, I don't care if you two want to kill each other or something. Just hand me over the scroll and you two can do whatever you want."

"I knew it, Mizuki-sensei. You never liked me! I am no demon! And I hate that you along with all the villagers are calling me that!" Naruto shouted out angrily, glaring at his teacher.

Nearly at the same moment was Sasuke shouting out as well. "What do you mean, your scroll? You said I could pass the test if I get my hands on it and that I did. Are you trying to trick me?"

"Geez... not so loud and please, one after the other..." Mizuki was rubbing his ear. "Yes, I tricked you Sasuke. Thanks for stealing the forbidden scroll for me. And you, Naruto, are a demon. The nine-tailed fox, to be precise. I don't know how you found out about this little meeting here, but I'm surprised that you came here without your mindless bitches."

"What did you call them?" Naruto was hissing in anger. "They are my friends and totally no bitches! Friendly and kind and just great, but no bitches!"

Out of her hiding point was Hanabi watching the scene, her blood boiling already by all that happened so far. How could Mizuki dare to call Naruto a demon? And how could he dare to call her and her sister mindless bitches? She was ready to attack, but looked over to the point her sister was hiding. Hinata, knowing her sister well, knew what she was thinking. Seeing her look towards her was she slowly shaking her head, trying to signal Hanabi to not act and to calm down. Somehow understanding that signal was Hanabi taking a deep breath and trying to relax for now.

Sasuke was starting to laugh. "That idiot shall be the nine-tailed fox? Sure, he does look like one... whatever, I don't care. What was that about tricking me?" he was shifting his position slightly, ready to attack in both directions, Mizuki and Naruto.

"They are, demon. Mindless bitches you keep around you for the simple purpose of satisfying your lust. I admit, they are pretty and would be good for breeding, all three of them. Maybe I should kill you right here on the spot? That way could I be the hero of the village and take your bitches as mine." a wide grin was on Mizuki's face by now and he was barely able to hold in his laughs, seeing how Naruto got angrier with every word he said. And the way Sasuke got angrier for being ignored. If he would play it right might he get rid of both and could simply walk away with the scroll.

The next events were all happening within just a few seconds.

"Don't you dare touch them!" was all Naruto shouted before quickly pulling his staff segments and linking them together, charging in the direction of Mizuki. The thought of a leech laying a finger on his friends managed to let his patience snap, memories of past events flooding his mind. C turned out to be a kind person and didn't made any move towards the girls, but it might have had turned out differently back then during the kidnapping. He wouldn't allow anyone to even touch his friends, not to mention worse things like using them as breeding stock.

That was enough for Sasuke's patience to snap as well. "Stop ignoring me!" he hissed angrily, going through a set of handsigns, aiming on the target that catched his eye first which was the moving form of Naruto. "Fire Style: Fireball jutsu!" he shouted, throwing a pretty big fireball in the direction of the boy he already tried to kill once.

Seeing that was Mizuki grinning, figuring that he could get rid of the demon in front of him pretty easily now. If he would attack him as well was there no way for him to get away. He couldn't dodge or block both attacks and Mizuki would have one nuisance less to take care off. Unstrapping the giant shuriken on his back was he quickly throwing it towards Naruto as well, waiting for the few seconds to pass that were needed for both attacks to hit and kill the blonde boy.

Hanabi was acting on pure instinct here. Realizing that Naruto got attacked from two sides and knowing that there was no way that he could do something against both was she jumping down on the ground, revealing her presence. She trusted her friend to be able to block the shuriken flying straight to his front. His weapon was rock solid and the shuriken was pretty big, giving Naruto a good chance to block it. Going through a set of handsigns herself was she shouting out an "Earth Style: Earth Wall!" and slamming her hands on the ground, starting to raise a wall between Naruto and Sasuke to block the fireball for her friend.

Hinata was cursing to herself. She was unable to locate any kind of water source in the surrounding area, rendering her useless to help her friend. Her training was still far away from the point that she could use the water particles that were existing in the air or ground and needed an existing source of water for her Water Style. Luckily was she still calm enough to keep herself hidden for the moment and not rushing into this situation blindly, knowing that her taijutsu wouldn't be of any help right now and that she would just present herself as another easy target for their opponents.

The cracking and shrieking of the moving earth echoed through the forest and the sky above it was enlighted by the fireball crashing against the earth wall, being quite visible because it was slowly getting dark outside. Naruto was stopping his run to block the incomming shuriken with his staff, being pushed back a few meters because of the force behind the throw, but he managed to block this attack unharmed.

Just some seconds had passed and Mizuki was quickly scanning the situation in front of him, taking in the differences to before and quickly judged of what to do now. A wide grin entered his face. "Well, seems like you brought one of your bitches with you after all. Guess I should take advantage of that right now.". Pulling out three shuriken with each hand was he throwing half of it towards Naruto and the other half towards Sasuke, quickly going through a set of handsigns and shouting "Shadow Shuriken" before heading off towards Hanabi, not even watching his shuriken multiply while flying towards their targets.

Seeing all these shuriken come in his direction was Naruto slightly starting to panic. He could dodge a few or maybe even deflect a few with his staff, but these were way too much for him to handle. He acted on a whim when he detached two segments of his staff, starting to spin it around like a windmill. If he could block an elemental attack that way might he be able to block a lot of shuriken as well - or so he hoped.

Sasuke on the other side of the wall just smirked. "You call that an attack and still call yourself a chunin? I'm way better than you and I'll kill you for tricking me!". He went through the same set of handsigns and spit another fireball, this time targeting the shuriken coming his way, effectively melting them away before they could hit him. This illuminated the sky above the forest a second time and also set one tree on fire. One tree that luckily stood slightly alone, hopefully not starting an inferno now.

Hanabi was already slightly out of breath, the Earth Wall having claimed a good amount of her chakra. Realizing that Mizuki was heading her way was she getting ready to defend herself, entering her clans fighting stance. Mizuki was just smirking at that, avoiding a few punches Hanabi sent his way and quickly getting behind her, grabbing her from there and rendering her helpless. She started to struggle but stopped when she felt a kunai on her throat, hearing Mizuki whisper into her ear. "I would stop that or else..."

It were just another few seconds that passed and again was the scene different. Naruto was panting, actually having blocked most of the shuriken. However, he had several cuts on the outer sides of his legs and arms from shuriken that managed to slip through his rotating staff. At least was he able to avoid any of it hitting dead center or any vital points of his body. Still, his state wasn't to his advantage now and his movement limited.

Sasuke walked calmly around the wall, a smirk on his face directed towards Mizuki. "You done playing?"

Mizuki on the other hand was having a smirk as well. He was clearly taking advantage of the situation with one of his hands openly and painfully squeezing one of Hanabi's A-cup breasts while the other was still pressing the kunai on her throat. She was groaning in discomfort while he spoke up calmly. "Well, I guess. The demon is in no shape to fight anymore and I'm having one of his bitches. All I need now is to grab the scroll and get away from here. I'm still having no intrest in you, Sasuke, but thanks for stealing the scroll for me and all. So..." he was thinking of a way to get across the clearing and behind Sasuke to grab the scroll, distracting him with the talk while he figured out a way to do so.

Hinata was watching kinda helpless, but decided to still not move because she already spotted the person heading in her direction with her Byakugan. True to her sight was a man standing behind her just moments later, but she wasn't turning around at all, knowing about this situation. Her eyes still focused on the scene in front of her.

"Okay girlie, there is quite the commotion and searching teams out there because of some serious theft and the lightshow you are doing here was quite spectacular so far. Seems like I was the closest, so... care to give me some details what is happening here?" Taking the same hiding spot as Hinata was C waiting for her reply, not daring to interfere without knowing what exactly was going on at all. Though he had to say that the situation he saw was quite... intresting.

Hinata nodded slightly, her eyes still focused. "After the tests were we seeing Mizuki-sensei talking to Sasuke which looked kinda suspicious to us. We decided to follow him and confronted Sasuke here with Mizuki-sensei appearing some moments later. Seems like he tricked Sasuke into stealing something he called the Forbidden Scroll and is trying to kill both Naruto-kun and Sasuke to take the scroll and leave. And he took Hanabi as hostage, planing to take her away for breeding..." she spoke quietly, anger present in her voice what C could understand. That wasn't just her mistress but her sister down there.

"Okay, I see. I'll take care of that creep Mizuki and you be a good girl and protect me while I'm doing so. I'm sure that other saw your lightshow as well and will arrive soon. It will be over latest then." he sat down cross-legged on the branch and let two cards slip from his sleeve in his hand, placing them in front of him.

"I'm not your slave!" Hinata hissed through gritted teeth in response on the 'good girl' part but took a defensive position in front of C anyway. After all was that the best she could do right now.

"Glad to see that you are loyal." he said with a smirk before going through a complex series of handsigns, in the end placing his hands on both cards, Ace and Jack of Spades. "Card Tricks: Black Jack." he whispered, trying to surprise his target with this trump card of him.

Hinata's eyes went wide when a shadowy figure carrying a scythe appeared, stalking around the tree and towards Mizuki who was still holding Hanabi. The first to spot this figure were Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto's eyes went wide, not knowing what this figure might be or were it came from. He knew that he wouldn't get away from it with his injuries and hoped that it wouldn't attack him. Sasuke on the other side was raising his eyebrows, more curious about what this jutsu might be.

Having a creepy feeling all of a sudden and seeing the two kids in front of him suddenly reacting on something was Mizuki slightly turning around, giving Hanabi another grope during that, slightly paling at seeing this figure coming his way. Deciding that it wasn't worth to risk anything was he tossing Hanabi towards the shadow, hoping that it would get distracted with the girl, and turned around to sprint towards the scroll still laying on the ground.

Fearing the worst was Hanabi closing her eyes, being pushed right towards that shadow and falling right in front of him. She wasn't sure what was worse, the unknown shadow or the way Mizuki treated her just moments ago, but she expected her end any moment. A shiver ran down her whole body when the shadowy figure simply walked through her, leaving her a quivering mess on the ground. She never felt something that cold and evil in her life and she never wanted to feel that again. At least was the shadow not aiming for her.

Mizuki wasn't even watching what might happen to the girl, simply running towards the scroll. However, his way was suddenly blocked by another fireball, property of a smirking Sasuke. "I said: Don't ignore me! I will beat you up for tricking me!"

Standing atop the branch was Hinata worrying about her sister, but wasn't moving just yet. "What is with her?" she asked fearful, not knowing what just happened, only seeing a shadow walk straight through her. Or the way she saw it with her Byakugan a massive amount of chakra flowing through her body and out on the other side.

"The reaper just touched her soul. She is fine, he wasn't after her soul at all, but the feeling is quite... terrifying. When this is over should you comfort your mistress." he was sending more chakra into his cards, with this increasing the speed of his Black Jack. "What about the Uchiha kid? On which side does he stand in this chaos?"

"On his own. He attacked Naruto-kun and Mizuki-sensei the same, with the intent to kill them both." Hinata said quietly.

"Got it. Guess he's next after the creep than. Though I'm sure the old man wouldn't accept it if I were to kill him. Ah, whatever." concentrating back on his jutsu was C becoming silent.

Feeling uneasy was Mizuki watching around him, figuring that he was in a disadvantage by now. Between him and the scroll stood Sasuke Uchiha, angry for being tricked and ignored. And he knew that the boy wouldn't hesitate to kill. That was the reason why he got banned from Academy in the first place. From behind was the shadow with the scythe approaching. He still wasn't sure what it was or whom it belonged to, he just knew that the girl it touched wasn't moving at all anymore. And from a third direction was Naruto slowly limping in his direction. The boy might be less mobile now, but his will was far from being broken. He would defend his friends.

Deciding that his plan failed completely was he doing the only thing that came to his mind: aiming for the last direction and to retreat. He was already on the run when the shadowy figure had an increase in speed, passing Mizuki in a blur and suddenly standing right in front of him, the scythe ready to strike and an evil smirk on it's featureless face. Pulling out some kunai was Mizuki throwing them on the shadow, hoping to bring it to strugle and slip past it to safety, still running towards it.

That however was a mistake. The last mistake he would do in his life. The kunai were simply flying through the shadow, just like the shadow simply passed through the girl. It wasn't physical and physical attacks won't have any effect on it. The scythe went down on the nearing Mizuki, cutting right through his body from his shoulder down to his waist. It went just through, leaving no physical injury, but it ripped the soul out of his body, sealing his fate. The lifeless body of Mizuki fell to the ground and the shadow instantly started moving towards Sasuke.

Seeing how effective this jutsu was and that attacks doesn't seem to be working against it, the fact that it was stalking towards him now was also a major point, was Sasuke deciding that he should take his leave. He wasn't caring about the dead teacher nor his former classmates. The scroll wasn't too important to him either. Right now was surviving his goal and that he did by jumping into the trees and quickly leaving the scene.

Naruto, not knowing what would happen next, took a defensive stance, ready to defend himself against whatever it was that just killed his former teacher. However, he knew that he wouldn't have a chance if this thing decided to attack him as well. After all was his mobility lowered, not that he would leave the place and let the girls to their fate anyway, he also was just capable of physical attacks which weren't working on it.

"You..." Hinata started, but wasn't finishing her sentence. She was slightly shocked at what just happened, forgetting her sister for a moment.

Cutting his flow of character was C letting Black Jack go back into the shadows he came from, releasing his jutsu and putting the playing cards back into one of his many secret pockets. "Just killed a traitor, yes. And from what I've seen was his dead way too merciful. That creep might have deserved to suffer for his actions. Simply letting the reaper rip out his soul was too quick. Anyway..." he stood up and stretched his body, the use of that jutsu taking it's toll. "I guess you should look after your mistress, no?" he said it lazily, like it wasn't important at all. But it had the intended effect. Hinata snapped to attention and jumped down from the tree to run over to Hanabi.

Letting out a long sigh of relief was Naruto slightly relaxing when the shadow started to vanish, wondering who might have controlled it. It was then that he saw Hinata jumping down from her hiding spot and running towards Hanabi, deciding to check on his friend as well. He wasn't as quick as Hinata because of his injuries and was stopped by a hand on his shoulder before he could reach her.

"Give them some time for themself." C said quietly, now standing next to him. "The little one just experienced something that can be disturbing. Give them some time and better go get the scroll, will you?"

Turning his head around was Naruto looking at C for a moment before silently walking over to where the scroll lay on the ground. After picking it up was he walking back to C. "That shadow thing was yours?" he asked, watching the girls with worry written all across his face.

"Yeah, that was Black Jack. Basicly an envoy of the Shinigami, the God of Death. Don't want to bore you with the details." he replied to the boy, also watching the girls. "Will you give me the scroll?"

"What's that great about it anyway?" Naruto asked while handing the scroll over to C.

Taking the scroll was C letting an empty joker card slip out of his sleeve, making a quick handsign to seal the scroll in it. The joker card was taking on an image of the scroll before it vanished in another pocket. "Oh, I don't know. It's containing boring stuff like forbidden jutsu or secrets of the village. Really, it's nothing intresting at all."

"Huh, so basicly the one thing someone like you would like to get his hands on if you were our enemy?" The grin on Naruto's face was wide when C gave him a guilty look in return.

In the end was he simply shrugging. "You got me there. But I will return it to the old man, don't worry. Want to come along when I do, just to be sure?". Nodding in return were both of them looking back towards the girls, waiting for them to show that they were okay.

When Hinata reached her sister was she quickly kneeling down next to her, taking her sister carefully into her arms. "Hanabi? Are you okay? Talk to me.". There was worry and fear in her voice while holding her shivering sister tightly to her body.

"Cold..." Hanabi spoke quietly, not moving at all. "I feel... cold... from the inside..."

Hugging her sister even tighter was Hinata trying to comfort her. "That will go away. C said that the reaper touched your soul and moved on. He killed Mizuki-sensei, everything will be fine."

"Reaper? Who... is he?" her voice was unsteady, her mind unfocused. If she got in contact with the death, was she not intrested in ever meeting him... it... again.

"He's our friend, Hanabi. That's all that counts, right? And if he is that strong is that great, isn't it?" she gave her little sister a smile and Hanabi was nodding slightly.

"I guess..." slowly getting control over her limbs back was she hugging her sister. "It was terrible... Mizuki-sensei... the reaper..." she started to cry, now realizing what just happened to her. All she wanted was to help her friend, but she ended up being taken hostage, molested and getting in contact with death itself. That was way too much for her to handle right now, so she simply cried.

"Sshhh, it's okay, Nabi-chan. Just a bad dream." wiping the tears away from her cheeks was Hinata giving her sister a kiss on the forehead. "I'm right here, everything will be fine. Come, let's take you home. The dream will be gone tomorrow."

With these words was Hinata getting up from the ground, taking her sister with her and carrying her bridal style in both arms. She was looking over her shoulder towards Naruto and C who were still standing some distance away, before starting to walk back to the village without saying a word. Even ignoring the two shinobi that came her way, also drawn in by the lightshow and commotion, was she just walking on, thankful that she wasn't stopped by them.

Letting the girls pass and watching them disappear into the forest were the newcomers turning around to face the two persons who walked up to them. "Care to explain?" Cat asked, taking a quick glance over the marks of battle and the corpse, before focusing her eyes on C.

"The short version? That creep over there tricked the Uchiha into stealing the Forbidden Scroll. He hasn't survived, the Uchiha is on the run and we are on our way to the old man to bring the scroll back and give a detailed report. Anything else, Kitten?" C replied calm and bored, the kill not bothering him at all. He did worse during his life and his time in the Organization and he knew it.

"That's Mizuki, right? Never liked that guy." Anko spoke up, eyeing C warily. "And what have you done to the girls? You surely tried anything funny, like you always do."

"Well..." he started, but made a grimace then. "Okay, fine, it's partially my fault. The little one might be traumatized. Both by what that creep did and because I wasn't able to avoid her. Black Jack walked right through her."

"Are you crazy? I know what they say about me, but hell, you outtook me with ease just now. You know that you might have destroyed her career with that, right?" Anko asked in disbelief, her anger against C forgotten for the moment. She might be cruel and sadistic on the outside, but she would never do something to permanently traumatize a kid. Well, she would at least try to avoid traumatize a kid, most of the times at least.

"It was an accident, okay? And I'm confident that she will overcome it. She does have her sister at her side and a strong will!" he tried to avoid the glare Anko was sending him. "Okay, look, we need to get to the old man. Would you mind taking care of the creep? You can do whatever you want tomorrow." with these words was he grabbing Naruto and disappearing with him using a transportation jutsu, leaving behind some floating playing cards.

"Heh, that will be fun. I wanted to go easy on him for offering my panties to that creep. I know that he wouldn't loose a card game when betting valueable stuff." she said grinning to her best friend while both were walking over to the corpse of Mizuki. "But now did he screw up for real. I thought he cared for these girls... What do you think should I do to him, Kitten?"

Cat was making a grimace behind her mask. "You know, I liked it more when you were using my real name, even while on duty, over that stupid nickname he gave me...". Seeing the grin on Anko's face was she shaking her head. "I got the one or other idea. Let's take care of the corpse for now and we can talk about it later, Worm."

Bursting out into laughter was Anko holding her stomach. "Worm? Really now? That's the best you can come up with?" she was wiping away a tear before letting herself quickly fall to the ground, dodging a sword strike that way. "Alright Yugao, you won. I won't call you Kitten anymore. But you are paying the sake."

She made a backflip away from the ANBU to get up from the ground, avoiding another strike, all while grinning like a madwoman. She was sure her life wouldn't get boring anytime soon with friends like Cat and C - and the kids C was attached to seemed to be intresting as well.

Hokage Tower

Hiruzen Sarutobi was raising an eyebrow when C and Naruto entered his office. The first thing he noticed was the state Naruto was in, with his clothes cut on his arms and legs, blood clearly visible on these. The second thing he realized was that C looked kinda tired and that he was missing his natural carelessness, his face showing something he would put somewhere between guilt and exhaustion. "I hope you bring me good news?" he asked with worry within his voice.

"Ah, yeah, depends on how you look at it I guess. Brought the boy with me because he can provide more details. In short: the scroll got recovered, one traitorous Konoha chunin is dead, a most likely dangerous kid is on the run and another promising genin might or might not be traumatized for her life, probably never recovering out of it." C said quietly, frustration clearly hearable. He was blaming himself for something, that much was clear.

"I... see." Hiruzen said calm, not showing any of his emotions. Though it was hitting him on the inside, especially the two last parts about the kids. "Naruto, if you would please tell what happened from the beginning?"

"Uh, yeah, sure old man. You see, when we finished our genin test were we seeing Mizuki-sensei talking to Sasuke. We weren't able to hear what they talked about, but it looked suspicious to us. Decided to go after Sasuke when he suddenly started off in the direction of the Hokage Tower." Naruto started to explain before he already got interrupted at this point.

"I assume you mean yourself and the both Hyuga girls with 'we'?" Hiruzen asked, just to verify his suspicion. He would be surprised if anyone else would have went after Sasuke at that point.

Naruto nodded at that. "Sure, who else? But we lost him pretty quickly and it needed some time before we spotted him running towards the northern forest, carrying a big scroll. I tell you, their eyes are amazing for that. We finally caught up to him when he sat down on a clearing, starting to read that scroll. The girls hid in the trees and I confronted him, talked to him. He became angry about me passing and him not and threated to attack me, when Mizuki-sensei showed up. Said something about tricking Sasuke into stealing the scroll and me being the nine-tailed fox."

Hiruzen flinched at that last statement. "He did say that? Do you believe him? How do you feel about that?" there was worry carried within his words.

Simply shrugging was Naruto answering honestly. "I don't know. People called me a lot of things so far, I'm just ignoring that stuff. But when he insulted the girls as bitches did my patience snap and I attacked him. From there was everything going quick. I remember Sasuke using a Fire Style jutsu, lots of shuriken and Hanabi-chan creating an Earth Wall. The next thing I remember was Mizuki-sensei holding onto Hanabi-chan, saying something about breeding her, while he... I... I wanted to... to..." he sighed.

Slowly nodding kept Hiruzen silent and C took over the talking. "Right, that was the scene when I reached that clearing. The lightshow of the fireballs was hard to oversee. Saw the older sister still in hiding and let her inform me of the situation. Naruto was already injured like he is now, the Uchiha boy grined and that creep molested the little one. Said the girl to give me cover and then used Black Jack to clear the situation. Since I wasn't spotted was that the quickest and safest method to safe the little one."

"You.. did what?" Hiruzen asked worried. "Summoning a servant of the Shinigami is always combined with risks!" his voice was getting louder and he wasn't happy about what he heard. In fact was he in posession of a jutsu that summoned the Shinigami himself, but that was labeled with a really high price for the user. So he feard the worst, hearing that one of his subordinates summoned a servant of it.

"Don't worry. One soul per summon and I'm even getting a credit if it's more. Otherwise wouldn't I have survived my encounter with Spooky back at the kidnapping. Anyway, Black Jack took the soul of that creep. Though that's the part... that went not too well. He panicked and threw the little one into the path of Black Jack. She is alive and all, don't worry, but... well, he walked right through her..." his voice trailed off, not exactly saying what happened to Hanabi. But that wasn't needed because Hiruzen Sarutobi knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Let's hope that she will be strong enough to recover from that. She has her sister at her side, right? I've faith..." sighing himself was he focusing C again. "What happened with Sasuke Uchiha? And where is the scroll?"

"The Uchiha boy ran away when he realized that he was targeted next. No idea where he is right now. Would advice to send out some searching teams. As for the scroll..." letting the joker card he used earlier slip out from his sleeve was he placing it on the office desk, releasing the scroll and the picture on the card vanishing. "There it is old man, one Forbidden Scroll."

"Okay, I see. I'll give orders for the searching soon." Hiruzen said, once again his age visible on his face and he felt it within his body as well. "And good thing we have the scroll back. Naruto?"

Said boy perked up a little, watching the Hokage. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry to say that, but Mizuki was telling the truth. You are of course no demon, but you are the vessel of the nine-tailed fox. He's prisoned within you, which is the reason why the villagers are treating you that badly." he spoke quietly, but he felt like Naruto deserved to know the truth. After all he went through, after all these bad things happening to him and his friends. After all...

"You mean... but... why haven't you never told me, old man?" there wasn't anger in his voice. His life improved when he befriended the Hyuga girls. There was disappointment in his voice, because he trusted the Hokage. He thought of him as family he wasn't having. He thought he meant something to this old man.

"I... don't really know. But it was time for you to learn the truth." taking a deep breath was the Hokage trying to get some resolve back. "Hey, I heard from Iruka that you are having problems with your clone jutsu, right?"

Blinking his eyes a few times by that sudden change of topic was Naruto slightly confused and needed some seconds before he replied. "Uhm, yes, because of too much chakra. Must be because of the fox, right?"

"Most likely, yes." nodding in agreement was Hiruzen opening the forbidden scroll and making a quick copy of the first jutsu written in there, before sealing it up. "Congratulations on passing the genin test. I think this jutsu might help you with your clone problem." he had an honest smile on his lips when he tossed Naruto the scroll he copied the jutsu into.

Catching the scroll was he taking a quick glance on it. "Shadow Clone jutsu?" he asked, before his eyes lighted up. "Hey, thanks old man, I'll learn that within no time!" he grinned during his statement.

"I'm sure you will, Naruto. You may leave now. Please have a good nights rest."

Nodding slightly was Naruto happily leaving the office. His thoughts went in all different directions. He thought about the new jutsu he would learn, about the nine-tailed fox inside him, and about the ramen he would eat tomorrow for lunch with the girls. He just hoped that Hanabi was alright.

"Heh, seems like my guess wasn't that far off." C stated while grinning at the Hokage who looked back with a questioning face. "You know that you just gave training informations for a forbidden jutsu to a genin, right? Well, it's really hard to get informations about him, but I'm guessing that he's at least a clan heir. And you just kinda confirmed that to me." he simply shrugged.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Hiruzen stated calmly, not showing any emotion.

"Sure thing, old man. Sure thing. Anyway, here's the list you asked for." taking a scroll out of his pocket was he tossing it to the Hokage. "A list of the most promising genin this year. Though I would like to add one additional thing to it. After todays events would it be a bad idea to pair the Haruno with either one of the Hyuga or the Uzumaki. If she learns what happened today to her crush..."

"Thank you for your work. I'm always impressed how quick you get on informations sometimes. Your addition will be noted as well. You may leave."

Hyuga Compound (alternate scene available)

Hinata was nearing their clan's compound, still carrying her sister. Luckily were most villagers at home already, the streets pretty empty, that she wasn't running into many people and the few she did ignored the two sisters.

"You can let me down..." Hanabi spoke quietly, getting a worried look from Hinata. "Seriously, sis. I think I can walk. Besides... you don't want a clan member or father to see us like this, do you?"

After a short moment of thinking was Hinata nodding, letting her sister down, still holding her for support. "I guess you are right. That would draw too much attention and we would need to explain things..."

"It would, yes...". Her legs were a bit shaky and she needed the support of her sister to not fall, but Hanabi managed to mostly walk on her own. The guards on the front gate were not paying much attention to them and they reached their home without incident, entering it.

"We are home now." Hinata was smiling at her sister, signaling her that all will be good. "I'll bring you to your room that you can rest. Let's talk about things tomorrow, okay?" Hinata asked, getting a nod in reply.

However, the girls didn't made it far away from the entrance when they were stopped by a voice. "Talk about what kind of things tomorrow? And where have you been anyway? Do you even know how late it is?"

Turning around were they facing their father who looked upset to them. He was clearly in no good mood. "We passed the genin test, isn't that great?" Hinata said a bit cheerful, hoping to distract her father from his questions and to brighten up his mood. But it wasn't that easy.

"That much I can see. But the tests ended hours ago and you are just coming back now. Stop to avoid my questions..." he was getting a bit louder and visibly angry, having enough from his both daughters playing innocent. He kinda knew that they were pretending a lot. "Besides, Hanabi, why are you looking like you went two rounds against a jonin?" his eyes focused on his younger daughter.

"We saw something strange after school and decided to investigate it... that's all..." Hanabi said quietly, trying to keep her voice steady.

Hiashi was loosing his patience and started to shout at his daughters. "Stop fooling around and tell me what happened already!"

Hinata was looking at her sister for a short moment, getting a small nod, before speaking. "You want to know? Okay father, than listen. Sasuke Uchiha stole the Forbidden Scroll and we followed him. It ended in a fight between us, him and Mizuki-sensei. We are tired and want to go to bed now. Happy?"

That did it and Hiashi started screaming, already drawing in other clan members to this commotion. "And why haven't you informed higher ranking shinobi to take care of that? Do you even know how dangerous a real fight can be?"

This finally made Hanabi snap and her temper got the better of her. Bringing out her last energy was she shouting back at her father. "Of course do we know. We went through worser situations by now. We were kidnapped and nearly sold as slaves. We were nearly burned to death. Hell, if it weren't for a friend of us would I be who knows where now, being used as breeding stock!"

These word were hitting good because Hiashi wasn't able to reply instantly, giving Hanabi the chance to continue. "And just that you know it, from today on is Hinata here officially my slave. If you got any problem with that, talk to the old man." not caring for all the clan members around her, and knowing that she had to tell their father anyway, was her mind shutting down and just adding this information now in her emotional critical state. Taking a deep breath was she speaking a bit quieter now, holding onto her sister for support. "I'm exhausted... let's go, sis."

That however brought Hiashi out of his short schock moment and he yelled angrily. "What do you mean, your slave? Our clan has nothing to do with slavery and I won't allow it! Especially not between my own daughters!"

Seeing that Hanabi had no energy left, and kinda upset about the topic itself, was Hinata taking over. She was shouting herself, partially angry, partially going with the flow of the situation. "Our clan has nothing to do with slavery? Really now? Than how would you call putting clan members into the branch family, even branding them with that stupid Caged Bird seal? That is slavery! I at least have choosen to be one, something most of our clan couldn't!" her temper got the better of her as well. However, when she felt the weight of her sister increasing on her shoulder, meaning that she was close to collapsing with everything that happened, was she acting quickly. "I'm taking Hanabi-sama to her room. She needs to rest badly. Good night, father."

Making her way through the clan members around them was she aiming to get away from the scene, hoping that Hanabi wouldn't pass out. There was just this one thing on her mind, comforting her younger sister, getting her to a place where she could rest, making sure that her mistress was okay.

It took him a moment to get out of his schock again and seeing his daughters leave was Hiashi shouting up. "Come back here right now, this isn't over yet!". The girls however weren't listening and when they were completely out of sight was he turning towards the assembled clan members. "What!?" he asked loudly, getting the crowd to dissolve.

Hokage office, the next morning

A group of five people was sitting around a table with four of them reading through a report while talking to each other. "Is the rumour making it's round true? That the Uchiha stole the Forbidden Scroll with a fierce battle afterwards?" Asuma asked before taking a inhalte from his cigarette.

"You better believe it. I haven't all the details, but me and Yugao reached the scene to clean up. That creep teacher Mizuki got killed by C out there." Anko replied without looking up from the report.

"Yes, sadly it is true. Mizuki is dead and ANBU still looking for Sasuke Uchiha. But the scroll could be recovered safely." it was the Hokage speaking, confirming the rumour. "So, what do you think about the list of most promising genin this year?"

Kurenai was raising an eyebrow. "That must be a joke, right? I mean, we all know C and his former occupation... but to add that Hinata Hyuga is a registered slave? That's beyond funny."

"Or that Hanabi Hyuga does have a slave holder license... these things run over your table, dad. So... are these informations correct?" Asuma asked, looking at his father the Hokage.

Also having the eyes of the other jonin on him was he sighing, before adressing Anko. "Could you stop that grinning, please? Or do you want to tell them?"

All eyes went to Anko who bursted out in laughter. "Alright, fine. Yeah, it's correct. C told me that he was present when the girls requested these things. Seems like the shy little Hinata is the slave of her younger sister."

"Which is why you applied to become a jonin sensei, right Anko?" Kakashi asked, his eye wandering back on the report in front of him. "But there are only nine promising genin, which means that one of us isn't getting a team."

"That is correct, Kakashi. This is why I ordered you all to come here. To judge the genin and to decide who will be taking the teams. You are the best jonin that applied to be sensei which is why I'll give you the chance to check the list of promising genin to choose from." taking out his pipe was Hiruzen inhaling deeply. "So, what are your thoughts?" he exhaled the smoke, watching the gathered jonin.

Asuma was the first to speak. "Knowing that you won't let me slip the job of being a jonin sensei..." he smiled weakly and got a serious look in return from the Hokage. "...would I volunteer to take the new Ino-Shika-Cho team. You know, to keep the tradition running. Think their parents would appreciate it as well if a Sarutobi is taking the lead of this team."

"Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi... lazy bastard." Kurenai snorted. "I hope the 'Queen of Gossip' will kick your ass. From what you can hear is she taking things seriously for some time now."

"I heard she is training together with Naruto for some time now to improve. She nearly put him into the hospital because he forced her to use a Fire Style jutsu. Speaking of..." Kakashi spoke, but got quickly interrupted by Anko.

"If you are going to say that you want Naruto and the Hyuga girls, forget about it, Spooky. I want the slave sisters. And maybe the Haruno girl for some fun..." she was pondering aloud, getting looks ranging from confusion to disbelief.

"But..." Kakashi tried it again.

"I said forget about it!" Anko shot back, glaring at him.

Kurenai sighed. "I'll take the Aburame and Inuzuka. Would have liked to get a whole scouting team but doesn't seem like any Hyuga would be a good pair with the Inuzuka, so..." she took a look at Kakashi and Anko for a moment before looking at the Hokage. "As third the Haruno. According to the informations is it the only available genin that wouldn't result in a fight, correct?"

"Considering that Asuma is taking the Ino-Shika-Cho, yes. So the only thing left is to decide whether Kakashi or Anko is getting the Hyuga sisters and Uzumaki..." looking at the two jonin in question was he raising his voice to be heard by them who were engaged in an argument right now. "I think I should find another sensei for Naruto and the girls."

That did the trick and both stopped fighting, looking at Hiruzen. "Fine, now that I have your attention..." he smiled at them. "Anko, I'm sure you get enough possibilities to... be around the kids. But all you want is have fun with them, so... Kakashi will take the role of being their sensei. He already does have a conncetion to them and he knows about their skills."

Anko pouted at that statement, but kept silent. She knew before that she wouldn't get the team and simply applied for her own amusement.

"Thank you for your trust, Hokage-sama, I..." Kakashi started, but got interrupted... again.

"Don't let them fail like all the other genins you had under your care." the Hokage gave him a serious look on which Kakashi simply replied with a smile. "As usual, you can pick up your genin tomorrow morning at the Academy. Well, now that this is decided are you all free to leave. All but Kakashi, that is. I need to ask a favor from you."

Watching his friends leave was Kakashi waiting for the Hokage to speak up, wondering what this favor might be about...


	21. Chapter 20 - Dreams are (not?) dangerous

**C's Scouting Report: Topic pending  
** *the first line is carefully scratched out*  
 **C's Scouting Report: The Dark Side of Konoha**

"Yo boss, I'm bored. I mean, I get that you aren't having jobs for me all the time. But honestly, I need something to do. You don't want someone like me wandering off to do 'who knows what', right? Just think of the things I could do...

Anyway, with my favorite girls now being into the slavery business and with me having too much free time, did I decide to dig a bit into the history of Konoha. And the things I found, really intresting. I'm going to call it 'The Dark Side of Konoha'. Oh, that's good, just let me change the title... done. Alright, moving on.

Did you know that the first Hokage was big into slavery? Konoha was called the slave capital during his time. In fact did he even invent several torturing methods from which some are even known by today and still used at Konoha's T&I to break prisoners. Wish the first Hokage would still be alive... I would thank him for giving us the ultimate tool for breaking women, the Wooden Horse. He really made my previous job pretty easy.

Though the second Hokage was something as well. Seems like he kept a handful of slaves for his personal amusement. Wasn't the Second your own sensei? Wonder if you knew that about him, boss. And it doesn't stop there at all. I looked into some of the clan's histories as well. I tell you, these are great stories!

For example the Inuzuka clan. You know, these beast like looking shinobi with all their ninja dogs? Clan businesses are great, aren't they? You are not allowed to interfere. Do you know what happens to females from outside the clan that get close to the clan's males? They are taken in and trained to become the respective males bitches. And that's still happening, even today. But you are not allowed to interfere with their businesses, right? Wonder if you even knew that?  
There is just one thing they aren't doing anymore. Actually, it's kinda sad and I would have loved to see that... Back in the days did the former mentioned females end up in the kennels of the clan compound. That must have been a sight.

Or take the Hyuga clan. After looking into that am I not really that surprised about the girls anymore. I mean, they are from the clan with the highest number of slaves inside this country. I was kinda shocked when I dug that out. Thought that Konoha was slave-free and not intrested at all. But there was this one clan, the whole time, holding so many slaves at once. And all of them are there own clan members. They call that 'branch family' to the 'main family'. Nonsense. It's simple slavery. They even brand their slaves like cattle. How was that called again? Caged Bird Seal? Something like that.

Got to say, I'm happy that I ended here inside the village. It does have an intresting history and intresting things are even happen today. I'm sure I won't get bored if I start to dig out more of these things..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of Two Sisters - Chapter 20: Dreams aren't dangerous, right?**

Hinata was the first to wake up this morning. Opening her eyes was she looking around her room, confirming that it indeed was her room. In all honesty was she afraid that her father would do something stupid at night, considering the way the girls parted from him after that loud discussion they had in the hallway.

"The hallway, right..." she spoke to herself, shaking her head. "Hanabi shouted out that I'm her slave... I don't want to see anyone from our clan today.". Her face turned red by the thought that this information might have spread through the whole clan already. How might they treat her, now knowing that she was a slave to her own sister? And that she entered that state by her own will? That is, if these small details weren't lost while being spread.

Sitting up was she noticing the sleeping form of her sister laying next to her. She was surprised for a short moment before she remembered that she brought Hanabi to her own room. After all was her little sister exhausted, completely out of energy and most likely traumatized by the events of the day before. That was a situation in which she just wanted to comfort her as good as possible and wouldn't let her sleep all alone.

"Well, I should get myself ready for the day either way. I wonder when Hanabi will wake up though..." she still spoke to herself and left her bed, aiming for her bathroom. It took her around 15 minutes for a quick shower and to brush her teeth before she entered back into her room. She smiled looking at her sleeping sister, hoping that the events from the day before would be forgotten by today.

Opening her drawer did she pick out a pair of loose baggy pants in grey and a matching t-shirt and dressed herself. Taking the headband from atop the drawer was she thinking about how she should wear it. That was when she remembered the day before, that she simply had it hang loosely around her neck. "Right... my neck. I have to wear the collar starting today..."

Walking over to her shelf did she pick up her collar, letting her fingers trail over the playing kitten etched into the leather at the side of it, before placing it around her neck. It was that moment when she had an idea that might save her some embarassing moments. She placed her headband around her neck as well, letting it hang loosely there like she did the day before, walking over to her mirror to check it out.

"Not bad, I guess." she spoke to herself, checking out her own image in the mirror. "If you aren't looking for it or doesn't know that it is there could you miss it." she smiled at herself, being thankful for having this idea. It could really save her some awkward moments or explanations.

"Trying to hide your collar, huh?" Hanabi spoke quietly, surprising Hinata who quickly turned around to look at her sister.

Hanabi was sitting inside the bed, currently rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "It's not like that..." Hinata started, fishing for words. "It's just... you see... I'm..."

"You thought you would be a smart girl by trying to cover it up with your genin headband." Hanabi finished for her, checking out her sister from head to toe with her eyes. "Well, I'll allow it for now. But that's all of freedom you get today, understood?" her voice got cold at the end and she was glaring at Hinata, who gulped visibly.

'So much for my hopes that she would be over the events from yesterday...' Hinata thought before nodding slightly. "Yes mistress, thank you very much. I understand." she replied obedient, not wanting to anger Hanabi. She wasn't sure how her sister could react if she did something wrong because her sister never was in a state like that before.

"Glad you understand." Hanabi smiled slightly, but there was a hint of evil within it. "I'm not intrested in meeting father or anyone from our clan today. Let me get ready and than will we sneak out of here and meet with Ino."

Nodding again kept Hinata silent this time, simply watching Hanabi getting out of bed and heading toward the bathroom. Each of them always kept some spare clothes of the other sister in their respective bathroom to avoid needing to sneak across the floor in nightwear, or worse half naked, if one was sleeping in the room of the other. A situation that wasn't happening too often anymore, but was quite common just few years ago. Either after a nightmare room switch or just for fun.

Hanabi was nearly as fast as Hinata was before for getting ready and left the bathroom fully dressed after slightly above 15 minutes. She simply put her headband in her pocket, not really bothering to put it on just yet, eyeing her sister. "We are leaving. Out the window and away from this stupid house." she stated before doing exactly that, quickly jumping out the window.

Knowing that Hanabi wasn't expecting a reply at all but giving her an order was Hinata quickly doing the same, following her out the window. She was desperate to avoid anything that might anger her sister today, not wanting to find out how a mad Hanabi might act towards her in her current state, with the latest trauma being most likely the most intense one and more importantly being totally fresh.

They were gone for half an hour already when a knock could be heard on Hinata's door. It became silent again for a full minute before the door was opened and Hiashi entered the room. He first tried Hanabi's room but found that none had slept there this night and was now entering the room he expected both of his daughters to be. He slightly calmed down over night and only wanted to talk with both of them, though still planing to show his authority.

Finding the room empty however with visible signs that the bed got used this night was his anger raising back to the same level it had the evening before. "Sneaking out to avoid confrontation? How old are you?" he shouted angrily, scanning the room for any kind of sign where his daughters might have gone to. When his eyes landed on Hinata's shelf did his temper snap however. "The collar is gone... She is... wearing it. In public. Unbelieveable!". He took a deep breath. "Okay, that's it. Hiruzen, you got a pissed off father wanting some answers on the way to your office. I hope you are ready for this..."

Yamanaka Flower Shop

The walk towards the flower shop was in complete silence between the sisters. Hanabi didn't feel like talking and Hinata was smart enough not to talk without being adressed first. Nobody was paying attention to them either. The villagers weren't caring or probably used to the sight of the two sisters together. No matter the reasons, they reached the flower shop without incident.

To say that Ino was surprised seeing her friends that early in the morning would be an understatement. The Yamanaka's were sitting together for breakfast when the doorbell rang. Ino was the one to answer it, smiling at the sister. "I know that we are appointed, but I wasn't expecting you that early."

"We... had an argument with our father after coming home and sneaked out this morning. Don't wanted to see him..." Hanabi answered quietly, not giving any details.

"Oh, that's too bad. Want to come in? We are at breakfast currently." Ino suggested, guessing that the sisters hadn't eaten if they snuck out that early in the morning.

Hanabi shook her head. "No... let's go somewhere where we won't get disturbed. As I said, I need your help with something..." when her stomach rumbled was she looking down, before her eyes went to her sister and back to Ino. "But if you could snatch us something to eat on the way?" she asked, a weak smile on her lips.

Ino had a hard time to supress her giggles. "Alright, I'll get you something. And how about our storeroom?" she shouted over her shoulder to the sisters while already being on the way back inside. A few minutes later was she coming back, carrying a bag containing some food. "I told my parents that we are going to the storeroom. And there's some food for you too."

The sisters thankfully took the bag and started eating right away while Ino closed the door behind her. The first minutes of their walk was in silence again, this time however because the sisters were eating the food Ino offered them. When they were done was she speaking up. "So, what is that thing you need my help for, Hanabi-chan? And why are we needing a quiet place for that?"

"I'll... tell you when we are there, okay? Here are too much people that might hear us..." Hanabi stated, not saying anything more.

Ino couldn't remember having seen her friend that distant before and was wondering what might be going on. She threw a questioning look at Hinata who simply shook her head in return, not saying anything either. There was a feeling inside Ino telling her that something was totally wrong, but she just couldn't point it out. That's why she simply followed her friends in silence. They would tell her eventually when they arrived.

Yamanaka Storeroom

Taking a look around was Hanabi noticing that there were some supplies inside the storeroom this time, but there still was a table and some chairs at the side of it. Walking over to them was Hanabi pointing on one chair while jumping up on the table to sit on it's edge. "Sit down, sis."

Simply nodding was Hinata walking over to the chair Hanabi pointed at and sat down, neither saying a word nor questioning her sisters commanding voice. That was something that confused Ino, making her speak up. "What's with you two today? You are totally different from your usual selfs... did something happen? And what do you need my help with?"

"We just had a big disagreement with our father, as I already told you." Hanabi replied, again avoiding any details. "Nothing you need to worry about. Anyway, I'm worried about Hinata here. She is having terrible nightmares for a long time by now and I would like to ask you to enter her mind and check that out for me. When she is talking about them is it quite... disturbing."

Ino looked from Hanabi to Hinata and back. "I guess I can try that, but... you sure that this is a good idea? I mean, I'm able to use my clan's jutsu and all, but I never really got to practice it on anyone. And it's more thought for possessing the targeted person, not for exploring the mind. Though I guess that this should work if the person isn't fighting it..." she pondered aloud, thinking about her jutsu before focusing on Hinata again. "You okay with that, Hinata-chan?"

Not answering that question was Hinata staying silent, Hanabi speaking up for her. "She's fine with it, don't worry. Trust me, you would want to get rid of these nightmares as well if you had them. So, you gonna do it now?"

"Sure... if I can help my friends that way will I try my best. Uhm..." looking around was Ino walking over to another chair, sitting down on it. "Hanabi-chan, would you please look after our bodies while I'm in her mind? Mine will be helpless and she won't be able to do much either I guess. I don't think that anyone will come here at all, but still..."

"Yeah, leave that to me, no problem." Hanabi gave Ino a wink to go on. She wouldn't go anywhere, leaving her property behind. So she could look after her friends body as well while waiting.

"Okay, thanks. Hinata-chan, you ready?" Ino asked, getting a slight nod from her before forming a circle with her fingers, pointing it at Hinata. "Well, hope that will work. Mind Transfer jutsu.". Just a second later was her body falling back limply in her chair, not moving anymore. Hinata's body had a barely visible spasm for a moment, before getting slightly limp as well, not moving either.

Figuring that it must have worked was Hanabi watching both girls for a moment, before spaceing out, her mind wandering astray and focusing on other things. She lost sight of her surroundings pretty quickly and probably might not realize if anything would happen inside the storeroom.

Inside Hinata's mind

Ino was standing in the middle of a room that had neither a door nor windows. Turning around was she also checking the area behind her just to realize that there wasn't any kind of furniture either. "Did I do something wrong?" she pondered aloud, not being able to make much sense of the place she currently was.

"I'm not happy that you are here..." a voice stated, hitting Ino by surprise. Turning around again to face the direction the voice came from did she saw Hinata leaning against the wall, her arms crossed below her chest. Next to her was a closed door that wasn't there before and Ino's eyes switched from Hinata to the door and back.

"You are... looking different..." Ino said in surprise, her eyes fixed on Hinata now. True to her words was Hinata dressed differently than she normally does. She had a mesh kind of fabric running from her knees up to her neck with only black shorts above it. Also wearing black high heels with not that high of heels and a collar around her neck was she rolling her eyes.

"Who would have thought? Your eyes seem to be able to be working. Not bad, Ino-chan, really, not bad." Hinata replied with a cold tune in her voice, her eyes fixed on the blonde girl in front of her.

She wasn't reacting to the insult but instead focused on the thing around Hinata's neck. "Is that... a collar?" she asked confused, her mind trying to make sense of the situation she found herself into right now.

"Just a collar? No... it's the one collar Hanabi-sama gave us to our 10th birthday. If I recall correctly were you there when it happened.". Hinata was mustering Ino for a moment before smiling and pulling out another collar out of nowhere. "Actually, I think one would look great around your neck as well. Care to try it one for me?"

Looking at the collar that was offered to her did Ino need some time to react. Her mind was overflown with information and she had trouble to process them all. So much for being heiress to a clan of mind walkers. "No... I don't want to try..." she said unsure, before her eyes went wide. "Wait a moment! Hanabi-sama? Why are you calling her that?"

"Really now?" she rolled her eyes again. "Seems like your brain isn't working at all, huh? What does a collar stand for? Ownership. And if you are owned by someone will you adress this person the way they deserve it. Easy, isn't it? So..." a grin entered Hinata's face. "You sure you don't want to try this fine collar here, Ino-chan?"

"Totally!" Ino shouted, making a step backwards. "And just _who_ are you anyway? You are not acting like Hinata-chan at all!"

"I _am_ Hinata!" she shot back without missing a beat. "Or more precisely her dominant side and you intruded into my realm just now. If it weren't for Hanabi-sama allowing you to be here right now would I just trap you and make you my pet for the simple fact of trespassing!". There was ice in Hinata's voice and she was glaring at Ino, making the girl gulp.

"Uhm... I'm sorry?" it was a weak try to calm the person in front of her down and it wasn't working at all.

"Oh, you will be, that I'm sure about... if you are going to waste my time." watching Ino shiver at her words brought a smirk on her face before she continued. "You are here because of her nightmares, right? Follow me, I'll lead you there.". Finally moving away from the wall was Hinata opening the door next to her and leaving the room, waiting in the hallway for Ino to follow.

Afraid of angering Hinata - or more precisely her dominant side - even more was she quick to follow her through the door, Entering a hallway that went left and right. Right in front of her at the wall was a map of this complex, showing that this mind was well structured. The hallways were straight and each room on the map was labeled with the memories or thinking processes inside.

Taking a look on the map was Ino quickly scanning it. "So, according to this map is the room I need to the left, second door down the hallway. Huh, that's pretty easy." she said to herself, starting to walk down the hallway before being stopped by Hinata's voice.

"Sure, just wander off all by yourself after I said I'll lead you there." her voice was shockingly calm and bored, which alerted Ino to the fullest, making her stop and turn around. "Ah, second thoughts? Just go ahead, I don't mind. But once you ran into the trap down this corridor will I not let you go anymore, permission for being here or not. And then will you be all mine..." an evil smirk entered her face, making Ino shiver again.

"Why would you place traps in your own mind?" Ino asked confused, finally wondering if it was a good idea to agree to help Hanabi with finding the source for Hinata's nightmares.

Simply shrugging was Hinata replying still bored. "It wasn't me who placed them. Though I must say they are useful at times."

Seeing that Ino wasn't answering anymore and clearly seeing that the blonde girl tried her best to make sense out of the things spoken was Hinata rolling her eyes yet another time. "Jup, your brain is useless. Thought as much. I wonder if I can break you if I confuse you even more?" she pondered aloud before grinning. "Well, it's worth a try. The traps were placed by the mischievious Hinata."

"There... is more of you here? Is that even normal?" Ino asked worriedly, suddenly feeling even more uneasy than before. It really was a bad idea to come here, that much was clear to her now. She was starting to wonder if her father ended up in similiar situations like herself right now.

"Uhm, I don't know?" Hinata answered while critically eyeing Ino. "Tell me if that's normal. After all are you the one supposed to understand how the mind is working... Anyway, yes, she is here as well. Hey!" she shouted suddenly at the end. "Show yourself, Kitty!"

"You are no fun..." another voice could be heard that sounded like Hinata too but had a playful touch to it. Just a moment later was a second Hinata having a pout on her lips appearing out of the wall, wearing a simple t-shirt and loose baggy pants both in grey. However, there was a prominent difference on that one: she had purple coloured cat ears and a matching tail. "You called, mistress?"

Not answering at all was the dominant Hinata simply pointing at Ino who just stood there with her jaw wide open in disbelief. When the mischievious Hinata turned around and saw Ino was her pout quickly replaced by a playful smirk. "Oh, is that the real Ino-chan?" she chirped happily, bouncing up and down on her feet. "Can I play with her, mistress? Please, can I? Pretty please?"

"Sorry Kitty, but she got permission to be here from Hanabi-sama." the dominant grinned at the mischievious one and enjoyed the disappointed pout of her before continueing. "But you can show her what you like to play."

When the cat-like Hinata saw that the dominant one was pointing down the hallway was the pout quickly replaced by a happy smile. Ino looked in amazement when the girl quickly darted down the corridor she was about to walk down before. Her eyes went wide when chains suddenly shot out of the walls and ceiling, snatching the limbs of the cat-like girl and suspending her in the air, holding her in position with the limbs spread to one corner of the corridor each, letting her hang there like a cross.

Watching Ino for some moments was the dominant one sure that her mind just broke by that show. At least wasn't she moving at all anymore. "So, you ready to follow me now?" Hinata whispered into Ino's ear, her fingers trailing down the shoulder of the blonde girl.

Ino simply nodded in reply and followed Hinata down the hallways. Her brain was having problems to process all the informations she got since entering into Hinata's mind and she really wondering if it was a good idea to agree going into it.

They walked like that for around ten minutes in complete silence within in the hallways before Ino finally got her thoughts straight again. And she simply spoke out the most prominent question she got on her mind right now. "Are the minds of everyone that weird?"

Turning around was Hinata raising an eyebrow at Ino. "Really now? I think we had that topic three times already. How the hell should I know? Why aren't you telling me if that's the case? You are the mind walker after all. You could watch into your own mind to check it out."

"Sorry..." Ino said quietly, looking down at the ground. "It's just... I don't know... There is you, there is the catgirl, there are these..." she pointed at a picture on the wall where they were standing. "What is that thing anyway?"

"Your father is working for T&I and you don't know what that is? It's a torture device, silly." The dominant one replied kinda bored like it would be the normalest thing of the world.

"But that's the point... Why are here pictures of torture devices? It's not what I expected from Hinata at all... Thought it would be full with pictures of Naruto..." she shrugged helpless.

"Oh, there are as well. The traps Kitty placed are all in corridors with pictures of Naruto-kun. You know, she's kinda obsessed with him." Hinata gave Ino a wink to follow her and moved on. She continued to talk while walking, pulling out books out of thin air and letting them float in front of Ino. "And you would have torture devices on your mind as well if you read these kind of books for years."

Checking the titles of these books was Ino paling. Some of them were familiar to her because her father had them in his personal library. He always told her that they weren't suitable for kids. Other titles sent a shiver down her spine, just because of the names. "Maybe I'm not knowing Hinata-chan as good as I thought..."

"Guess so. Anyway, we reached our goal." Stopping the walk was the dominant one pointing on a room they could look inside but had no visible entrance for them. Inside was Hinata in the same state like in her nightmares: down on all fours and naked except for her collar. Kiba was kneeling next to her, petting her head. "That's the original one and the nightmare she is stuck inside for a long time now."

Ino's eyes went wide, seeing the scene in front of her. "That's the nightmare? I know that I would totally freak out if I would dream something like that... Do you have any idea what the reason could be? Or when it started?". She wasn't sure if she could be of any help seeing that scene. But on the other side did she simply agree to find out the reasons for Hinata's nightmares. And since she had another Hinata at her side she could ask about it...

"Actually, yeah, I do." Pulling out another book out of thin air was she showing the title 'Raising Pets' to Ino. "The reason is most likely this book we read countless times for five years by now. We were rather fascinated by it. And the nightmares started the night after our 10th birthday, after we got our collar from Hanabi-sama, which kinda sums up. But these aren't the problems. It's him." she pointed at Kiba. "I have no idea why he is here and he's the one Hanabi-sama is upset about. The problem is, we haven't found a way inside to help her or anything..." the cold facade of the dominant one was crumbling for a moment, sincere worry hearable within her voice.

"So..." Ino started to think about the informations she got and quickly came to a conclusion. "Hanabi-chan actually isn't worried about the nightmare itself but the fact that Kiba is inside, right? I know that she hates him and all, but that is..." she shook her head.

"You are basicly right. But can you imagine how we freaked out the first night? It's just that the original was surpressing it after that to not anger Hanabi-sama more." the dominant Hinata sighed. "Look, since none of us is getting inside is there not much we can do. I have an idea however, but I would need your help for that."

"Uhm... okay?" Ino was unsure how to react. On one side did she want to help her friend Hinata. On the other side was wary of any idea that dominant version of her friend might have. She simply decided to listen for that moment.

"Okay, look, you realized that Hanabi-sama was somehow different today, right?" waiting for Ino to nod in confirmation was she speaking on. "But you haven't heard of anything that happened yesterday yet, right?" Ino thought about it for a moment and shook her head. "Fine. So, you see, Hanabi-sama is pretty traumatized if you ask me. There is so much that happened to her the last years... it's not nice at all. I guess the whole situation could be solved if she is getting back to her old self. And that's the point I need your help for."

Tilting her head to the side was Ino looking at the girl in front of her with confusion. "I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to tell me..."

"It's simple. All I want is that you enter her mind once you are out of our and pull her out of the despair she is most likely in. The original us would never ask you to do that, so I'm taking the chance I have right now. I can only imagine that her trauma is way worse than that nightmare we have here..."

"But... I can't just enter her mind. That would be... wrong!" Ino protested, but got silenced by the glare the dominant Hinata send her.

"Right..." she pulled the word into length. "If I recall correctly had you no objection when it was about entering here. I suggest that you are leaving now before I change my mind and really keep you as my pet. Hanabi-sama is kinda spaced out right now, she won't even realize what you are doing, so just do it. If she... if we are your friends, than just do it and help us. All of us..."

Before Ino could answer anything was she hit by a punch from the dominant one straight to her stomach, being forced out of Hinata's mind that way. Waiting a moment to be sure that Ino wasn't there anymore was Hinata sighing. "I hope she goes... I'm afraid about Hanabi-samas mental state..." she shook her head for a moment to get her thoughts clear. "Kitty?"

The head of the catgirl Hinata was poking right out of the wall next to the dominant one, a worried look on her face as well. "Yes mistress?"

"Please tell me you finally found a way inside that stupid nightmare... we need to save the original..." the dominant one said desperate.

The mischievious one shook her head. "I'm sorry mistress, but there is just no way. It's like the original built a mental barrier around it, blocking us out... We can only hope that you are right with your guess about Hanabi-sama being able to help, somehow..."

Yamanaka Storeroom

Ino was blinking her eyes, getting used to the light in the storeroom before looking around her. In front of her was Hinata still sitting on the chair, slowly opening her eyes as well. Hanabi sat atop the table at the side, not paying much attention to her surroundings, her eyes kinda spaced out, focused on nothing. It was Hinata who broke the silence first.

"How was it?" she asked quietly, looking at Ino.

"You don't know? But... I met you there. I mean... I met _a_ Hinata. It was... strange." she shook her head. "What's with Hanabi-chan?" Ino pointed at the younger girl who still hadn't realized that the other two girls were back in the real world.

"I fear she is trapped within a trauma..." Hinata said quietly, looking at the ground. "It was horrible what happened to her yesterday."

Nodding in understanding was Ino thinking hard about doing what the dominant side of Hinata asked of her. Her state really seemed to be serious when even the original Hinata told her that something terrible happened. "Hey, Hinata-chan, keep an eye on my body, okay?" she asked smiling.

Before Hinata got a chance to reply was Ino already making her clan's signature jutsu handsign again, this time pointing at Hanabi. "Mind Transfer jutsu." she said, falling limp in her chair again, this time entering Hanabi's mind. Hinata just watched the scene worried and waited.

Inside Hanabi's mind

Standing in the middle of a forest was Ino noticing one thing right away: it was totally different compared to the mind of Hinata. And while two minds weren't enough to actually come to a conclusion was she sure that every mind will look different. She was wondering how her own might look like, but she hadn't time to think about that right now. Her attention got drawn to a quiet sobbing she could hear somewhere in front of her, though she weren't able to see anyone.

Deciding to follow the sobbing, the source must be Hanabi for sure, was Ino walking deeper into the forest she was in. She knew that she went in the right direction because the sobbing became louder with each step she took and it wasn't long before she reached a clearing in the forest. However, what she saw there shocked her to the core.

In the middle of the clearing sat Hanabi, her legs drawn to her body and her arms slung around it. She was clearly the source of the sobbing and crying, not paying attention to her surroundings. And that was something Ino understood quite well, when she looked around the clearing, or more precisely towards the outer corners of it.

To the right side of Hanabi was an inferno consuming the forest. Thinking about the words of both Hinata's was she sure that this must be a trauma from back when Hanabi got her burn scar. She did knew of these stories of course, but she never thought that Hanabi might have had problems with that. She always seemed so happy to her.

To the left side was thick mist inside the forest, something Ino couldn't place. The one thing she noted about that mist was that it must be ice cold because the trees and grass touched by it were covered in ice crystals. On a second glance was she guessing it must be related to the kidnapping, if the ropes that were wrapped around and hanging down from the branches were any indicator.

Lastly in front of Hanabi was a huge shadow lurking between the trees. It seemed to carry a large scythe with it, always glancing at Hanabi whenever the sight was clear. Ino couldn't place that one either, but had shivers running down her own back whenever she got a look on the featureless face of the shadowy figure. Again remembering what both Hinata's told her was she guessing that this one happened recently the day before. Taking another look in that direction was she also seeing that there was a body laying on the ground. She couldn't make out any details, but she could tell that it was wearing the typical green Konoha shinobi clothes.

She herself reached the clearing behind Hanabi and was glad that there was nothing like the stuff she could see in the other three directions. Though she figured that, if she was correct and each of these things was a trauma of Hanabi, that girl must have been through way more than she could imagine. Not wanting to think about if she was in danger if she got in contact with something of these things was she slowly stepping forward towards Hanabi.

"Hey, Hanabi." Ino called out to her friend, but the girl sitting there wasn't reacting. Closing the distance completely was Ino placing her hand on Hanabi's shoulder, talking to her again. "Hanabi-chan, hey, you okay?"

Not looking up at all, her head buried between her legs, was she quietly talking between sobs. "Go away..."

Ino couldn't help but sigh. It seemed like it would be harder than she thought it would be. She decided to enter Hanabi's mind to help her friend. But truth be told, she had no idea how to talk to someone being traumatized. "But I came all the way out here to see you, Hanabi-chan." she said calm and friendly, hoping that it would work.

"Just go..." Hanabi was still not looking up. "Go... or you will be trapt as well..." her sobs increased.

"Trapt?" Ino asked surprised, some worry inside her voice. "What do you mean with trapt?"

Hanabi wasn't answering to that. All she did was move her right arm, the one with her burn scar Ino noted, away from her legs and pointed first towards her left, then to the front and lastly to her right. Once finished with this movement snaked her arm back around her legs, pulling them even closer to her body.

Following the movements of Hanabi's arm with her eyes was Ino once again realizing that her friend must have went through a lot of things already. But she wouldn't give up that easily. "You aren't trapt here, Hanabi. Just look behind you, there is a way to get out. That's the way I reached you."

But the girl wasn't reacting to her anymore, not paying any attention to anything anymore, being completely back inside her despair. Ino tried to get her attention again by talking to her, by touching her, but Hanabi wasn't reacting to nothing.

After a good five minutes of trying to somehow get through to her was Ino giving up. "I will come back to help you. That's a promise." were the last words she spoke to her friend before turning around and walking back the way into the forest she came from. Once she neared her entry point could she sense the way out of Hanabi's mind and focused on it, leaving it for now.

Yamanaka Storeroom

Opening her eyes was Ino seeing the worried face of Hinata in front of her. Her eyes lit up hopefully when she realized that Ino was back, but the blonde girl only shook her head no to the unspoken question of Hinata. "If I had to guess is she trapt within three different traumas... It was... scary."

"I understand..." Hinata said quietly, before smiling weakly. "But thanks for trying, Ino."

She stood up and walked over to her sister, gently grabbing her shoulder and shaking her lightly. "We are back, mistress."

Blinking her eyes a few times was Hanabi trying to figure out for a moment where she was. She totally spaced out shortly after Ino entered Hinata's mind and hadn't realized anything that happened inside the storeroom. Not even that both girls came back to reality and Ino entering her own mind shortly after. Looking into the smiling face of her sister was Hanabi slightly nodding. "That's good. Tell me about it later, am not in the mood for it..." she said coldly. "We are going now to meet Naruto for lunch. Want to tag along, Ino?"

Ino wasn't paying that much attention, still being surprised by Hinata adressing Hanabi as mistress. It seemed like the dominant Hinata was telling her the truth after all. When she started to feel the glare of Hanabi on her was Ino quickly snapping out of her thoughts, looking into the waiting and slightly angry face of Hanabi. She wasn't sure what Hanabi might have ask her, so she just nodded. "Uhm, sure..."

"Fine, than come along." Hanabi said before walking towards the door, expecting the other girls to follow her.

Said girls started to move a moment later with Ino giving Hinata a questioning and slightly worried look. Having seen the scene that just happened was Hinata smiling reassuringly back at Ino, starting to whisper. "Don't worry. You only agreed to join us at lunch with Naruto-kun.".

Ino sighed in relief after hearing that. After all the things she experienced within the minds of both her friends was she worried that she might have agreed on something she could regret later. Like placing a collar around her neck, like the dominant Hinata suggested to her... she shook her head to get it clear again. It was just lunch with her friends.

Hokage Office

Hiruzen was just starting to read some papers when an angry Hiashi entered his office. Raising an eyebrow at his friend and the way he charged into his office was he placing the papers back down on his desk, mustering the head of the Hyuga clan. "You look kinda upset, Hiashi. What can I help you with today?"

"Don't play dumb! I know exactly what you did and I want to know why. Why have you approved that nonsense between my daughters? Show me the papers and let me destroy them at once!" Hiashi shouted, glaring angrily at the head of the village.

Pulling his pipe out of his desk was Hiruzen igniting it and taking a deep and calm inhale. "Ah, I guess they told you then?"

"Told me? They told me? They came back late at night, looking like shit. And instead of explaining anything did they yell at me, telling me a story about you having given them some official papers for enslaving each other. I won't tolerate such nonsense!" Hiashi slammed his hands on the desk, trying his best to look intimidating at the Hokage.

Said man simply said in his chair, radiating and aura of complete calmness. "Ah yes, that really was an ugly situation. Have you heard already? Mizuki tricked the Uchiha heir into stealing the Forbidden Scroll. Your girls were there by chance to stop him from getting away. If it weren't for one member from our scouting network might Hanabi-chan have ended abducted with an unknown fate and Mizuki might have gotten away with her and the scroll."

Hiashi's eyebrow was twitching. "Enough of that nonsense already! I don't care about that! I want to know why you approved the slavery between my daughters and to cancel it right away!"

Hiruzen was thinking for a moment, before smiling slightly. "Ah, sure, I can tell you that much if you wait a moment. Cat?" he said, waiting for his ANBU to appear in front of him. "Would you please go and get C for me? I think we might need his expertise in this situation."

"As you wish, but... I'm not sure if he will be able to come here at all. Knowing Anko might he be occupied at this moment." Cat replied politely, glad that none could see her smirk behind her mask.

"Ah, I see. Tell Anko that I will compensate her for her time and that she can come discuss the terms later. That is if she really is involved right now." Hiruzen replied still completely calm.

Cat simply nodded and disappeared with a puff of smoke. Hiashi was getting more angry from moment to moment, clearly unhappy that he was ignored right now. "Are you trying to make a fool out of me? I want answers and I want them now! And who the hell is this C person?"

"You will meet him soon enough. As for your question is the answer pretty simple. They came into my office and Hanabi requested a slave holder license. After confirming that she fulfilled all requirements did I do the only correct thing and granted her one. And when she told that she wanted to register Hinata as her slave, well..." Hiruzen simply shrugged.

"Stop playing with me! Tell me what happened or I'll forget that you are the Hokage!" Hiashi grunted, his patience nearly gone completely already.

"I again confirmed that everything was legit and prepared that as well. If you want to have a look on it?" he pulled a copy of the information sheet about Hinata out of one desk drawer and handed it to Hiashi.

Grabbing the sheet was Hiashi quickly scaning over it, raising an eyebrow. "Hinata Hyuga, heir of the Hyuga clan. Rank: genin of Konoha, cleared for active duty. Slave status: clan internal." he read out loud before glaring at Hiruzen again. "And what the hell does that suppose to mean? Would you please explain that to me?"

"It means that the village is recognizing her slave status and that her owner has to follow the villages slavery laws. But since the slavery itself is counted as a clan internal thing is she not handled like property by the village, how it usually would be, but still as kunoichi of the village and with that cleared for active duty. That is as long as the owner is allowing that which is the reason why in such a case slave and owner are usually on the same team." a voice explained from behind Hiashi, letting him turn around. Leaning inside the doorframe was a blonde man, his arms crossed over his chest. He gave a quick wave towards the Hokage. "Yo boss, Kitten said you had something urgent?"

"Who is this guy?" Hiashi demanded to know. "And why does he sound that calm and bored while talking about my daughter?"

"Ah, C, glad you could make it that quick. You know Hiashi Hyuga here, right? The father of Hanabi and Hinata, clan head of the Hyuga? Well, he seems to have some questions on which we could need your special knowledge." Hiruzen was still calm, ticking off Hiashi even more.

"A pleasure to meet the man that brought so much entertainment into my life." C stated while still standing inside the doorframe, not bothering to move or if anybody would hear the talking outside the room.

"Entertainment? Are you saying that my daughters are entertaining you? What do you have to do with them anyway?" Hiashi's focus was completely on C now. The Hokage took the opportunity to pick up the papers he was going to read prior to the disturbation again.

"I suppose he's cleared for these informations, boss?" C asked loud enough for the Hokage to hear who simply nodded without looking up from the papers he was reading. "Well, my name is C and I assisted with the registration of the first slave in ages. I'm also hoping to lent the little one a hand in training her slave and am still expecting a reply from my boss whether or not I'll be put in charge of all slavery related matters. Guess that would kinda kill my boredom whenever I'm not tasked with scouting and information gathering."

"What? That doesn't explain anything!" Hiashi shouted out loud. "Tell me what you have to do with my daughters!"

C sighed out loud. "You want to know the truth? That's fine. I was one of the people who kidnapped them around 3 years ago and tried to sell them on the slave market. I got found and beaten by Spooky, moved into the village some time later, made amends with your daughters and became friends with them. I'm also responsible for the latest trauma the little one most likely fell into which honestly was an accident. If I hadn't pulled drastic actions against that creep Mizuki might he have gotten away with Hanabi-chan as breeding stock. And that would have been worse. Happy now?"

He was watching Hiashi who kept silent after hearing these informations. Realizing that he most likely didn't knew much about his daughters life's up until now was Hiashi thinking hard about what he would do and say next. If the informations he just got were just the short form of the things his daughters went through so far...

"Wait... you did say earlier that this stupid slavery thing was clan internal, right? That means I can nullify it as clan head..." he pushed his current thoughts aside, not wanting to think about the new informations right now. There was still this slavery problem he needed to solve. The one his daughters must be obsessed with if they even registered officially.

"Nope, you can't. While it indeed is a clan matter of some sort is slavery the one exception were the village laws have priority over clan rules. The owner does have full responsibility over the slave and none can interfere with it." C explained calmly, watching the grimace Hiashi was making. "That is by the way an agreement the clans and the first Hokage came up with."

"Sometimes I worry about the things you are intrested in..." the Hokage spoke up, putting a report to the side. "You really dug deep to find these things in our villages history, haven't you? It's way more than I know about."

"Ah, I take it you just found time to read my latest report?" C was grinning like a madman and Hiashi was watching the scene totally confused and lost for words.

"I did indeed..." Hiruzen took a deep inhale of his pipe. "And I must say that I support Hanabi in her decision of registering her slave.". That got Hiashi's attention back to the matter at hand and he was about to speak up but the Hokage was quicker to continue. "Say Hiashi, when are you planning to register the hundreds of slaves you own?"

"What?!" now was he lost completely and his jaw hung wide open. He came to the Hokage to get this nonsense about his daughters right and was now accused of owning hundreds of slaves? That was too much for him to take.

"It was recently brought to my attention that your 'Branch Family' system is basicly just a huge way of slavery. So, planning to go with the village laws and registering them anytime soon?" Hiruzen asked friendly, watching the clan head carefully.

His mind was lost completely now and he started stuttering. "I... you... they... you said something about a recent trauma, right? I'll go and see if I can help my daughter... Hanabi was it, right? Right..." he moved like he was in trance and left the office, pushing C aside to get past him.

He was watching the clan head leave before turning back to the Hokage. "I would suggest to create a new law. Every new slave from now on needs to be registered. Existing slaves may be an exception." he shrugged slightly. "So, about the job of being in charge of all slavery related things..."

Hiruzen shook his head. "The last time I saw him that spaced out was when his wife, the mother of the girls, died. I'll think about your position soon... I fear we might need someone in charge there. So..." he relaxed back into his chair. "Do I need to compensate Anko for letting you come here?"

"Not really." shrugging his shoulders was C turning to leave the room. "She already created her own conditions and kept Kitten in exchange. I wouldn't plan with her for the next three hours or so." he gave the Hokage a wave back over his shoulder and was gone as well.

"When did managing a whole village became that crazy? Is anyone left that actually is following rules?" Hiruzen asked himself before sighing and getting back to his paperwork.

Ichiraku Ramen

The girls were nearing the ramen stand where they agreed to meet Naruto for lunch to celebrate the passing of the genin test. They could see him waiting in front of the stand already and when he spotted them approaching was he waving in their direction, shouting out their names. "Hey, over here! Hanabi-chan, Hinata-chan!"

"Great, just what I need today..." Hanabi mumbled to herself. "Draw the attention on us..."

Hinata was keeping quiet and Ino was thinking about doing the same, when something catched her attention and she couldn't help but to blurt out her thoughts. "I guess entering your minds must have had a drawback on me... I don't see any reasonable explanation for why I see Naruto twice..."

"Uhm... I can see two Naruto-kuns as well..." Hinata said quietly, her eyes focusing on the three raised hands that waved in their direction.

When they got close to their target could they clearly see that there were indeed two Naruto's standing in front of the ramen stand waiting for them. Both of them had a wide grin on their faces and one of the two spoke up when the girls reached him. "Huh, didn't knew that Ino-chan would join us for lunch. Want to celebrate passing the test with us?"

Ino nodded in reply. "Yeah, Hanabi-chan asked me to come along when I was finished helping her. But, uhm... Naruto? When did you manage to create a clone? I thought that was something you just couldn't do?"

The second Naruto crossed his arms over his chest. "Hey! I'm no stupid clone! I'm the real deal, believe it!"

Hanabi wasn't in the mood for games and decided to simply act on the situation, throwing a quick punch towards the Naruto claiming to be something better than a clone. Her eyes went wide for a moment when the supposed to be clone grabbed her wrist, effectively blocking her punch with that. "Funny... that just means that the other is the clone." Hanabi spat out, her bad mood clearly visible to everyone.

"You think so?" the other Naruto asked before walking past her to Ino and Hinata, walking in the middle between them and placing one arm over the shoulder of each girl. "I would say we go inside and enjoy our lunch, celebrate our passing and I'll tell you something great!"

He pushed the two girls forward into the ramen stand and Hanabi watched in disbelief that the other Naruto was no clone either because a clone wouldn't be able to touch anybody physically. The other Naruto let go of Hanabi's wrist and motioned for her to walk inside as well. "I think he got a great idea there. Let's get inside and eat something, Hanabi-chan." a grin back on his face was he leading her into the stand.

Once all of them were seated at the counter and ordered their meals did the three girls look over at the Naruto who was leaning at the wall of the stand, not having ordered anything. Seeing the looks was he just shrugging. "The boss said he don't want to pay for two of him and, honestly, I can understand that. Have you ever seen how much I can eat?"

"Hey, just because it's true doesn't mean that you have to call it out loud!" the sitting Naruto replied kinda upset, glaring at the standing version of himself.

"You would have done the same if our positions were reversed. I am you, remember?" the standing Naruto replied kinda bored.

"So... this is a clone, right?" Ino asked carefully. "But not a normal one, right? So... what kind of clone is it and more importantly when did you learn that?" she looked at the sitting Naruto who she supposed to be the original one.

A wide grin entered Naruto's face. "That's a Shadow Clone! The old man gave me instructions to learn that jutsu after C and I brought the scroll back to him yesterday. Was up all night to practice it and there you got the result!"

"Wait, the Hokage gave you instructions for a forbidden technique?" Ino asked in disbelief, before another information hit her brain. "Woah, wait, what scroll? What happened yesterday? Hinata-chan mentioned that something happened?". She looked from one friend to another and saw the most different reactions. Hinata was looking at the ground, not daring to speak a single word. Hanabi was turning her head away, crossing her arms over her chest. And Naruto, with his carefree nature, looked at Ino with disbelief.

"You mean the Queen of Gossip hasn't heard it yet? That's rare. Mizuki-sensei tricked Sasuke into stealing a Forbidden Scroll and we encountered them, trying to get it back. Mizuki-sensei is dead by now and Sasuke ran away." Naruto explained the events of the day before in short, like they were nothing, before digging into his ramen that was brought while he talked.

The sisters were trying to avoid the gaze of Ino which eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. "What? You mean you killed one of our teachers? Are you crazy?" her eyes landed on Hanabi. "Is that the reason for your mood? What happened?"

Naruto was focused on his ramen, not bothering to answer and Hinata started to eat her ramen as well, hoping that she didn't need to answer either. Hanabi was still turning her head away, pretending to not realize anything and it was the standing Naruto clone that spoke up instead. "I wouldn't push the girls for details, if I were you. That was... just awful. And it weren't we who killed Mizuki-sensei, it was C who came to the scene after us."

"That sounds bad..." Ino nodded slightly before picking up her cup of ramen and standing up, walking over to the Naruto clone. "You can fill me in on the details, right?" she smiled sweetly at him before starting to eat with the clone gulping before nodding in return. There was nothing wrong with informing their friend about what happened, right?

Hanabi, realizing that she didn't have to add anything to the conversion finally started to eat as well, keeping quiet and to herself all the time. Naruto on the other side was at his third cup already, a happy smile on his face all the time. He still followed the advise he got from C, to give the girls time to get over the events. He was smart enough to not try to push them to speak about it.

Hinata, while still eating, leaned her head on Naruto's shoulder and simply enjoyed him being near her. It was one of the few freedoms she had right now and she intended to take advantage of it. Plus the contact really felt calming to her.

Teuchi looked at the kids and shook his head, speaking quietly to himself. "Hadn't Naruto told me that they wanted to celebrate their passing of the genin test? Doesn't look like celebrating to me... the whole scene is so awkward..."

Walking down the street was Kakashi, actually looking for the kids he would teach as jonin-sensei starting the next day. He expected them to be at the ramen stand for lunch and decided to wait with his search til noon that he could go there as first stop. If he was wrong could he still search somewhere else afterwards. "Look after Hanabi he said..." he mumbled to himself. "She is most likely traumatized and might need someone to talk to... I mean, she went through a lot, no question, but I went through worse when I was her age... Ah, guess I won't get around it, being her sensei soon." he went through his talk with the Hokage again, who asked him to look after the girl.

Reaching the ramen stand was he poking his head through the curtains, having a smile on his face. "Yo!" he said to no one in particular and got no reaction on it at all. However, the scene he was seeing shocked him the most. On one side of the ramen stand were Naruto and Ino standing - with Naruto talking like crazy and Ino eating. That looked totally wrong to him and should be reversed. Hinata had her head on Naruto's shoulder, a sight that would go as cute were it not for the fact that he could clearly see that both of them were kinda tense. Considering the informations he recently got about these kids and the event of the prior day was it no big surprise to him. Though he was wondering why there were two Narutos.

And lastly was there Hanabi, sitting all alone for herself, just eating her ramen and not caring about anyone in her surrounding. 'Huh, I guess he was right when he told me about her state. If none is going to help her in a way might she get lost in her despair' he thought to himself. 'Well, gotta try my best then.'

He was entering the ramen stand completely, giving Teuchi a quick wave before approaching Hanabi. "Hey Hanabi." he called out to her when standing next by her side, hoping that she would react to him when he talked directly with her.

Sensing someone in her near surrounding and barely hearing her name was she not looking up, just replying on instinct. "Leave me alone..."

"Huh, why so cold towards me? We know each other for how long now? Just wanna talk. You okay?" he tried again, placing his hand on her shoulder.

Needing to react to the physical contact was she turning around and glared at the one touching her. Realizing who it was did she the first thing entering her mind, pushing his hand away with her own and yelling at him. "I said to leave me alone, Spooky!"

That outburst grabbed the attention of the others inside the ramen stand, watching Hanabi and Kakashi with different expressions. Hinata had worry and fear written all across her face, not wanting to see her sister become even more mad than she already was. Both Naruto's were looking at Kakashi with an expression that wanted to tell 'You are an idiot. Even I am aware that you shouldn't approach her currently.'. Ino was looking shocked at Hanabi, not being able to remember that she ever had such an outburst. Sure, she could have a bad temper and all and Ino was partially aware of what happened to Hanabi, but that outburst was scaring her to the core.

Kakashi was still smiling at the girl and tried it one more time. "I just want to help you. Common, we are friends, aren't we? Let me help. You know, I experienced a lot during my life as well and am sure that I can help you."

Hinata let her head hang in defeat, knowing that he just made it worse. Ino got to the same conclusion and faceplamed, shaking her head in disbelief. Both couldn't really understand how men could be that stupid and approach a girl at a time it would be way better to leave them alone. Grabbing the ramen cup she ate from before was Hanabi throwing it the short distance at Kakashi, who easily catched it. When Hanabi started to do handsigns was he making a step backwards, which turned out to be a mistake. "Earth Style: Stepping Stone." she said grinning, raising a single stone out of the earth, right behind the foot Kakashi was moving, resulting in him falling backwards over it and on his ass.

He wasn't trying to avoid the fall or anything, realizing that he brought her reaction on him by himself. Not looking at Hanabi was he laying on the ground, still holding the ramen cup he had saved from sure destruction if he had let go of it. Hanabi wasn't looking at him either, simply getting up from her stool. "We are leaving, sis..." she said coldly before stepping over Kakashi and leaving the stand.

"Yes, Hanabi-sama." she replied before getting up herself. Pulling some money out of her pocket did she put it on the counter to pay for her and Hanabi's meal before quickly following her sister.

It got quiet after that and seconds passed, before Ino made a step forward, kicking at Kakashi's leg. "You know, Spooky, all your experience and you fail to realize when to leave a girl alone? That's just sad."

Still not moving and laying on the ground was Kakashi thinking it over and nodded slightly. "I guess you are right. Well, I'll most likely get enough time starting tomorrow to make up for that..."

It got quiet again before the Naruto clone spoke up, drawing the attention of all others on him. "Uhm, wait a moment... did Hinata-chan just called Hanabi-chan Hanabi-sama?"

Ino was biting on her lower lip and Kakashi kept silent, both not wanting to say anything. It wasn't their role and not the time or place to talk about that. The real Naruto looked back at his clone and shrugged it off. They would tell him, if there was something to tell. That was something he was sure about.

Hyuga Compound

It was getting dark when the sisters finally got home. After the incident at the ramen stand did Hanabi wander around the village aimlessly before heading to the outskirts of the village, simply laying down on a patch of grass, letting the time pass. Hinata was following her the whole time, not wanting to upset her any more.

Hinata was fearing that their father would be waiting for them again, trying to catch up on the conversation of the evening before, but to her surprise was he nowhere to be seen. At least wasn't he going to make the situation worse for everyone. She was wondering the whole day how she might be able to help her sister get out of this mood, to get away from the things making her act that cold and distant towards everyone. It frustrated her that she wasn't able to come up with a solution.

On their way to their rooms could they hear whispers between other clan members they passed. The events from the evening before must have made the round around the clan compound, sending a shiver down Hinata's spine, fearing how she might be treated starting now. Hanabi on the other side wasn't paying any attention to the whispering. She wasn't in any mood to even care for her other clan members.

Beside of the whispering did they reach Hanabi's room without problems and went inside. Hinata closed the door behind them and stopped right next to it, unsure what to do right now. Walking over to her bed was Hanabi climbing in and laying down, looking at the ceiling of her room. "Say, sis, what did Ino-chan find inside your mind?" she asked absent mindly, not looking at her sister.

Hinata was surprised by that question, not having expected it at all. She was under the impression that her sister wouldn't care about anything today and would keep to herself. "Uhm... I have no idea..." she answered quietly, getting a look from Hanabi who turned her head to watch her sister. "You see... when she was inside my mind didn't I see her or anything... I was basicly just stuck inside my nightmare and only got out of it when she left." she shrugged her shoulders helpless. "You need to ask her about it..."

"I would have done that if it weren't for that stupid Spooky... Couldn't he just leave me alone?" Hanabi asked no one in particular before sighing. She came to the conclusion that she wanted that day to end, also having in mind that they needed to be at the Academy the next morning for the team assignments. Still laying in bed was she getting rid of her clothes, stripping out of them down to her underwear. She let them simply fall next to her bed and pulled the blanket over her body, turning her head to her sister who was still standing next to the door. "You'll stay with me tonight, Nata-chan..." she said quietly. "We both know that I will be haunted tonight..."

Nodding was Hinata finally stepping away from the door and moving over to her sisters bathroom. When she got out of it again was she wearing light blue pajamas, carrying her clothes over to a chair to lay them down, before moving to the bed to slip under the blanket to her sister.

The first thing Hanabi did was moving closer to her sister and cuddling into her before slightly smiling. "It wasn't too bad wearing your collar in public, was it?"

Again was Hinata surprised by that question but she was glad that her sister at least now was a bit more open towards her and not as cold as she was the whole day. "I guess... I mean, nobody seemed to have noticed it because I hid it under the headband. But the whispering of our clan members was kinda bad." she replied honestly.

"Yeah... and we have to deal with father tomorrow as well." Hanabi yawned. "He will surely be there to see us off for the assignments..." cuddling at her sister even more was she closing her eyes. "Don't leave me, sis... ever..." she mumbled before falling asleep.

Hinata was smiling at her sister, holding her close to her own body. "How could I? I am yours, remember?" she whispered into Hanabi's ear before falling asleep a short time later.

True to her fears was Hanabi having a nightmare this night, having her sister close to her not helping at all. Hinata too was caught in her nightmare this night, finding herself in a position she experienced so many times during her dreams...

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 _ **Author's Note:**_ Okay, I know I went a bit crazy this chapter. Like, totally. But hey, it's about dreams and the minds of individuals - if you aren't going crazy there, when do you? I actually also wanted to put the nightmare scene in this chapter too, but it already is the longest chapter so far, so... cliffhangar, again. I'm sorry. Plus I ran out of writing time this week and don't wanted to postpone the release til after the weekend.  
But hey, now do you have something to look forward, knowing that the next chapter will start with exactly that scene. And it will be different from Hinata's usual one. I mean... no point in doing the same thing over and over again, right? And am having both girls at the same time. Am sure it will be a nice scene. At least does it look like one inside my head. You'll see...


	22. Chapter 21 - Say that again?

**Ino's notes: Jonin-sensei**

Kakashi "Spooky" Hatake: son of the "White Fang of Konoha", commonly known as "Copycat", also goes by "Cyclops". Possesses the Sharingan and has a bounty placed on his head. Fought in the last Great Ninja War and knows jutsu of at least four different elements (Earth, Water, Fire, Lightning). Is said to be able to copy any jutsu after seeing it just once, giving him the name of "Copycat". Dumped every genin team he got to train after a maximum of two days til now.

Asuma Sarutobi: son of the Third Hokage. Has a bounty placed on his head. Was part of the 12 ninja guardians when he was younger, protecting the feudal lord of the Fire country. Owns chakra with Wind affinity and is also capable of Fire element jutsu. Had trained no genin team yet. Smokes a lot.

Anko Mitarashi: works for Torture and Interrogation (T&I). Does have a sadistic side she is eager to show as often as possible and her sense of fashion can be put as slutty. Former student of Orochimaru of the Sannin, a Konoha missing nin and traitor. Mistress of Stealth and Assassinations, uses techniques created by her former sensei, based on the traits of snakes (and partially involves real snakes). Had trained no genin team yet.

Kurenai Yuhi: a mistress of genjutsu. Only became jonin recently and applied for her first genin team. No real accomplishments or special traits known.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 21: Say that again!?**

"And there she is, having that nightmare again..." the dominant Hinata said quietly, standing outside the room Hinata was on all fours inside together with Kiba, unable to enter it herself to help the real one.

"I do wonder, Mistress..." the mischievous Hinata next to her spoke up. "Isn't it kinda strange?"

Looking over to the catgirl was confusion written over the face of the dominant one. "What do you mean, Kitty?"

"Think about it, Mistress. This nightmare is hunting us for nearly three years now, right? And Kiba is always threatening us to train us as his pet, right? But in these three years was all he ever did examing and petting. He never even tried a single thing to actually start training us. What is he waiting for?" she explained, touching her lower lip with her finger in thought.

"Hmm, you are right Kitty. Though I wonder... it isn't really Kiba but a creation from her, from our mind, right? The question shouldn't be what is he waiting for, but... what is _she_ waiting for?" the dominant answered, her eyes back on the scene inside the room she never found a way inside.

Hanabi's nightmare

Trapt within her own nightmare was Hanabi sitting on the clearing inside the forest on which Ino found her when she entered the girls mind. Her legs pulled on her body and her arms wrapped around them was she not moving, waiting for the trap to consume her.

She could feel the heat of the inferno to her right, slightly getting hotter by every minute that passed. Her scar was throbbing, sending painful sensations up her arm and into her brain. If she would have looked in that direction might she have realized that the inferno was slowly getting closer to her.

From her left side was the icy mist fighting the heat of the inferno, increasing in coldness from minute to minute as well to counter the heat. Her left body half was numb from the coldness, goosebumps all over her left arm. If she would think about that situation might she even find it ironic, that her body was the place on which the inferno and the icy mist fought their battle of dominance. But she wasn't thinking about it, simply waiting for one side to win and consume her.

In fact wasn't she thinking at all in this situation, her mind being blanked out by the dreadful aura that hit her head on. The shadowy figure stalking through the forest, the grim reaper, Black Jack... the thing that touched her mind during the fight with Mizuki never left her. Hinata was trying to explain to her that the thing wasn't after her soul, that it touched her and moved on. That were the words C said to Hinata and Hinata said to Hanabi. Both were wrong, it was still there. Haunting and hunting Hanabi in her mind, waiting for the girl to surrender, to claim her soul.

She pulled her legs even closer to her body, her fingers digging into the flesh of them. There was no way for her to run, no way to get away from the things threatening her life. She could just sit and wait there for her end. At least did Ino get away from this place after being stupid enough to enter the trap here. Ino... was she even there or was it just a fainting wish of her? The wish for someone to come and help her. A wish to get away from this place... could she even trust her own senses at this point?

It was during this situation that a voice within the wind reached her ear. It was just a whisper, something just barely loud enough for her to hear. In fact didn't she hear it at all the first few times. But the voice continued to whisper to her, continued to reach her ear. And with passing time did Hanabi realize that there was a voice in the wind, a voice always whispering the same two words. "Help me..."

When she finally heard this voice was she making a grimace, her face still placed between her legs. "How? I'm trapt here myself... I need help too..." she said quietly to noone in particular, not even thinking that whoever that voice belonged to could hear her.

The voice however stopped whispering for a moment before changing the words, actually starting to talk. Still just a whisper in Hanabi's ear, but the voice reacted to her. "Please help me... you are the only one that can... please, Hanabi... follow Ino..."

Hanabi couldn't help but to laugh dryly. "How shall I follow someone who isn't here? How shall I get away from here while I'm surrounded by things trying to kill me? I'm trapt here... I won't be able to help anybody..."

Again was the voice silent for some moments, before speaking again. "That's not true... you are able to help me... you are the only one... please... follow Ino..."

Simply shaking her head was Hanabi not answering anymore, thinking that it was no use to argue with that voice. Following Ino... how was she supposed to do that? Ino wasn't at the clearing in this forest. Or was she? It brought her an headache right away, but she started to think about it. Maybe Ino really was by her side, right inside this deathtrap. What did she say to her? She failed to remember, the pain becoming unbearable.

However, deciding that she wasn't crazy, that she wasn't seeing and hearing things, that Ino really must have been inside this deathtrap was she raising her head, looking around her. She wasn't surprised when she saw the icy mist to her left, the inferno to her right, the shadowy figure lurking in front of her. These were the things that put her into her despair in the first place. Trying again to think about Ino and what she said to her went Hanabi's eyes suddenly wide, realizing that there was something she hadn't thought about.

Turning around to look over her shoulder was she finally deciding to look at the area in her back and, to her surprise, was there no visible deathtrap waiting for her. Ino must have been at this clearing and this must be the way she took to come and leave. She let out another dry laugh when she realized that there was a way out the whole time, that she just couldn't see it for it being behind her back.

Determined to leave this place was Hanabi getting up from the ground, starting to walk in this direction, getting more and more distance between her and the things aiming for her life. It was then that the voice also started to whisper again. Just that it wasn't a whisper anymore, it was getting louder and louder the more she walked away from the clearing. "Yes... please come and help me... you are the only one that can... come to me, Hanabi..."

Now that she could hear the voice more clearly was it hitting her like a punch to the face. She knew this voice. No, it was more than just knowing it... it was a voice she grew up with. "I'm coming sis! I'm coming and I will help you! Wait for me, just a bit longer. I'm on my way!" she shouted determined, her steps getting faster, her body starting to run. She would follow the voice and help her sister, no matter what.

When the voice was loud enough that it could be considered being right next to her was the forest suddenly changing. The whole area was covered in blinding light, consuming everything it touched. Covering her eyes with her right hand was Hanabi still moving forward, stretching out her left hand in front of her to feel where she was going. Just a moment later was there nothing. The forest, Hanabi, everything was gone, consumed by the blinding light.

Hinata's nightmare

She wanted to cry. She wanted to yell at someone. She wanted to punch somebody. She wanted to move and get away. But she just couldn't. She never could do anything when she was trapt in this nightmare. All she could do was to watch her surroundings, to listen to whatever Kiba was telling her, to feel every touch of him on her body. The worst of it however was the embarassing position she was in.

How often did he walk around her, examining her completely from front to back? How often did his partner Akamaru sniff her body completely? She just couldn't stand it anymore. Nearly three years of having the same nightmare over and over, it was just too much. Unable to speak, like every time within this nightmare, was she thinking the two words most prominent in her mind, over and over again. 'Help me...'

Something was different this time however. The scene didn't go the way it usually did and Hinata realized that when Kiba knelt down in front of her, a wide grin on his face. "You always came running back to me, even so you are an estray. It's time that I take you in and start your training. My partner is looking forward to it too." he explained kinda calm before taking out a leash and attaching it to Hinata's collar.

When he stood up again and started walking towards the door in front of Hinata did she start to panic. She refused to follow him, refused to move her body at all not even sure if she could move it right now, earning herself a tug on the leash that soon turned into a painful pull. "No need to be shy. Just come with me and we can start your training. Trust me, it's way better than being all alone." he spoke still calmly, but there was impatience slowly getting into his voice.

Seeing that Hinata was still not moving did he sigh before glaring at her. "You want it the hard way? No problem..." was all he said before giving a strong pull on the leash, strong enough to pull Hinata from her limbs, letting her fall to the ground. Grinning did he start dragging her over the ground. He would take her with him, no matter what.

Before he could reach the door however was there a bright white light coming out of it, letting him stop and covering his eyes. When the light was gone did he blink his eyes to get his sight back, opening them wide in shock. "You?!" he shouted out in surprise.

Adjusting her sight after being engulfed in the white light was the first thing she saw Kiba standing right in front of her, a look of utter disbelief on his face. The next thing she saw was that he was holding a leash with her sister attached to the other end, currently laying on the ground. She wasn't thinking clearly and simply reacted on instinct, but it was more than enough. "Get your filthy hands off her. She is mine!" Hanabi yelled at Kiba, not really caring what was happening in front of her or how she got there, simply seeing the person she hated the most trying to do something with the person she loved the most.

Kiba hadn't even time to react to the punches Hanabi threw at him, hitting him in his throat, straight on the forehead and right on his heart, releasing chakra into his body with her clan's fighting style. Each hit was a fatal one and Kiba, being just an illusion created within Hinata's mind, vanished into nothing after technically being killed three times.

Just a moment later was Hanabi kneeling next to Hinata, pulling her up on her knees and hugging her tightly. "I'm here sis. I'm here and I'll be sure to protect you. I don't know what I would do without you... what I would do if I would loose you..." she said quietly.

A small smile entered Hinata's face, warmth spreading through her body. She felt save and at peace right now. "Thank you for coming for me, Hanabi." she replied quietly. "I always knew that you would come for me."

Both girls held each other tightly, simply enjoying the closeness of the other. It took some time before they both fell asleep within the embrace of the other, ending both of their nightmares at the same time for this night. The rest of the night was peaceful for both.

Standing outside the room were the other Hinata's still watching the whole scene up to the point at which both sisters vanished. "I guess now do we know what she waited for, right Mistress? Do you think Ino-chan had anything to do with it?" the catgirl asked.

"I would like to believe that, Kitty. It's the only explanation I have at the moment, considering that she entered both our minds today. Though I wonder if she was really able to help Hanabi-sama..." the dominant one replied in thought.

The mischievous one perked up at that, a playful smirk on her lips. "Does that mean I'm allowed to play with Ino-chan now, Mistress?"

Shaking her head in amusement while laughing was she looking back at the catgirl. "Basicly yes, Kitty. But you know the rules. Never break them."

"I know Mistress. Only when she agrees on it, because trust is everything while playing."

Both were watching the now empty room for some more minutes, being glad that this nightmare vanished from their mind, before both went their seperate ways for now, leaving for the areas of Hinata's mind they claimed as their own. The last thing the dominant one saw before the mischievous one vanished behind a corner was that she created an illusion of Ino and took her hand to drag her along. The dominant one chuckled to herself, knowing quite well that Ino would have a hard time if she ever decided to enter Hinata's mind again.

Hyuga Compound

The girls both woke up at the same time early in the morning. While keeping their eyes shut were both sporting a smile on their faces. Feeling the others warmth did they cuddle closer to each other, enjoying the feel.

Hinata was the first to speak up, knowing that her sister was awake as well. "Thank you, Hanabi." she said quietly, her eyes still closed.

"For what, sis?" the younger asked in return, pulling the older a bit closer to her. She wasn't sure what her sister was thanking her for. In addition to that was she trying to understand what she dreamt about this night. At least was she feeling a bit better compared to the day before.

"For saving me from my nightmare. You came and gave Kiba a beating, releasing me from him." Hinata explained with a slight purr in her voice. To her confusion did Hanabi tense up and she opened her eyes to look what was wrong.

Hanabi was looking back at her, her own eyes opened wide in shock. "You... I..." she shook her head, trying to get it clear, confusing her sister even more. "I had a nightmare... but then did I hear someone calling out to me and followed that voice. Away from the evil things... I heard you and suddenly ended up in a room with you and Kiba and I... I did..." her voice started to tremble, not able to continue talking.

"You got angry and gave him some punches before pulling me close, telling me that I'm yours." Hinata finished for her, a gentle smile on her face. "And I'm thankful for that. I really am. I don't know why that happened... maybe it's some after effect of Ino entering our minds? But you came for me and saved me."

"So... it was more than just a dream, right? It was... your dream?" Hanabi asked, before suddenly snapping to attention. "Wait a second! Ino-chan was in my mind too?"

Hinata nodded slowly. "Yes... after she came back out of mine were you totally spaced out and we were worried about you. So I asked her to see if she could help you, somehow..."

Hanabi kept silent for some time, thinking about it. When she finally spoke up, Hinata having a worried expression on her face, did she surprise herself and her sister the same. "So she really was there, wasn't she? I was starting to doubt my mind..."

"And I would say it was a good thing. After all are you in a way better mood then before." Hinata said smiling. "Shall we get up? We need to get ready and head to the Academy for the team assignments."

Raising up was Hanabi grinning at her sister, sending a shiver down the older ones spine. "Good idea, sis. And to celebrate the day will you wear the cute piece of clothing you like so much!"

"Again?" Hinata asked, half whining, half protesting. "Do you want to torture me?"

"Well..." Hanabi pondered aloud, drawing the word into length. "Either that or wearing your headband somewhere else than around your neck. Your choice." she said happily before jumping out of the bed and walking over to the bathroom to get herself ready for the day. Yes, the day started quite good for her, her mind not focused on the things haunting her for now.

Following her slowly was Hinata getting out of the bed as well to walk to the bathroom. She was cursing in her mind that her sister knew her that good, giving her the choice to choose between one thing she hated and one thing she wouldn't do if she could avoid it...

Some time later were the girls entering the kitchen to get some breakfast. Hinata was wearing her headband around her neck again, partially covering her collar like the day before. Hanabi decided to wear her headband around her waist as a kind of belt today. She saw Ino wearing hers the same way the day before and thought that it looked good, wanting to try wearing hers the same way at least one day to see if that would work for her.

They weren't surprised to see their father already sitting at the table but decided to ignore him for now. They hadn't forgetten the confrontation they had and weren't eager to repeat it. Hiashi was looking up when his daughters entered the kitchen, mustering their appearences, but kept silent and waited for the girls to fetch themselfs something to eat and to sit down before he spoke up. "I see that you are trying to hide the collar, Hinata. It's not perfect, but I'm thankful that you aren't shouting out to the village that you gave yourself into slavery."

Both girls looked up in surprise from their meals. Not because their father started to talk, that was something they expected him to do. Not because of the thing he said either, they didn't really listened to his words. They were surprised by the complete calmness of his voice, something they weren't expecting after the way the last talk between them ended and the fact that they sneaked away from home the other day to avoid meeting him.

"I'm not too eager for the village to find out either..." Hinata replied truthfully to her father. "That way did I thought could I please everyone, including myself, and Hanabi-sama allowed me to wear it like that."

Hiashi flinched slightly when his older daugther called his younger daughter Hanabi-sama, but he kept calm. "I see. So you are thinking about our clan's reputation after all, do you?"

Shrugging that question off was Hanabi not really looking at her father. "Not really. Actually, I think that there are much things wrong within our clan. Like restricting us on learning our clan stuff only... that's the way you get yourself captured or killed." she too was calm while making that statement, surprising her father. "I'm allowing her to wear it like that to ease her mind. She still feels uncomfortable showing it in public and I want to help her. That's the reason, if you must know."

Letting out a long sigh was Hiashi nodding slowly, watching both of his daugthers. "Okay, listen you two, I had a talk with the Hokage and this strange fellow... C I think? They informed me that there is nothing I can do about this situation. I was... no, I still am angry at you for doing that, but..." he shook his head. "But I want you to know one thing. While I can't do much against this stupid action of yours, they explained it in detail to me, am I still your father. Should you two put shame on our clan will I simply do the things I can as father. And if I do does it not matter if you enslaved each other or not because you will be put in your rooms for a long time. Is that clear?"

Putting his authority in his last words was he trying to intimidate his daughters. Hinata was actually flinching at the aura he was emitting, but Hanabi stayed surprisingly calm at that. "How about these terms, father..." she spoke up. "You simply leave us and our relation alone. If you met C did you meet the one person responsible for basicly everything that happened to us so far. And compared to him are your threats... not as strong as you think. Oh, and while we are at it, I want to inform you that we both are looking and training into other things than just our clans jutsu and that for a long time by now. If you weren't so busy with whatever you usually do and actually care for what your daughters do would you know about that. But I bet you don't?"

Hanabi was glaring at her father, challenging him with her eyes. He had to admit that he just heard for the first time that they were training in something else and was wondering for a short moment what else he might not know about his daughters. "What do you mean you are training in something foreign?" he asked with concern in his voice. As long as he could remember and with the knowledge of the clan's history was there never a case of a Hyuga learning something beside the clan's techniques. "Wait, no... what do you mean that this C guy is responsible for everything?" there was slight anger entering his voice, having the man responsible right in front of him and not having done anything at all.

"Oh, I don't know..." Hanabi replied with mock innocence. "It were members of his Organization that nearly burned us alive in the northern forest. It was him who kidnapped us and helped us understand some things about slavery, before trying to sell us as slaves. It was also him who approached us months later, here within the village, to appology to us. It was him as well who helped us with the request of the license and the registering. And it was him who might have killed me during the incident with Mizuki-sensei, though they say it was an accident!" her voice got louder at the end, anger entering her expression. "And you know what? He's still our friend! Shall I continue?"

His mind was wandering back to his meeting in the Hokage office and he bit down on his lip, swallowing his anger. "Okay, fine. Just don't bring shame on our clan and we... might get along in this situation." he finally said, backing down from his daughters challenge. If he would confront her now was he sure that he would loose his last chance to improve his relation with his daughters and most likely also had to explain himself to the Hokage in regards of the branch family of his clan. He thought about that as well and came to the conclusion that the claim for them being slaves wasn't that far fetched at all.

Hinata was by now simply watching the argument between her sister and father, eating her breakfast. She was surprised to the core about both of them. That their father was that calm compared to the loud argument two evenings ago and also that Hanabi was that open towards him, compared to her cold behavior from the day before.

"You two are going to get your team assignments today, right?" Hiashi spoke up again, changing the topic and actually getting the attention of both. "Have you heard anything about the teams you are getting or your senseis?"

"Not really." Hanabi shrugged. "Beside the fact that they won't be seperating us from each other are we pretty clueless."

"I see... well, I hope you will end up with someone who might be able to help you..." he said quietly, but still loud enough for both of them to hear. "They also told me about the things that happened to you, Hanabi, and I know that we aren't on good enough terms that I might help you with your problems..." while he said these words was he getting up from the table and leaving the kitchen, leaving his daughters behind to wonder about him.

What they didn't know and most likely never would learn about, was that their father was heading towards his office after that, sitting down at his desk. He slammed his fist down on the table, cursing to himself before picking up a picture frame, looking at the image of his wife. "I'm sorry, dear. It seems that after loosing you did I also loose our daughters. I am a terrible family man, am I?"

Academy

They were nearing the door leading to their classroom and Hinata was grabbing at her trousers, trying to adjust the thong she was wearing under it for the countless time on their way to class. Hanabi was watching her sister in amusement, but decided to speak to her. "You know, sis, keep that up and everyone of our classmates will see and probably figure out what you are wearing. I thought you don't wanted to catch that much attention?"

Sighing did she let go of her clothes, looking back at Hanabi. "You know that you can be totally evil at times, right?" she asked, wondering what her sister had on her mind right now. Was Hanabi trying to distract herself from the things haunting her by teasing the poor girl that wasn't allowed to fight back?

"Are you surprised with a father like ours?" she asked back, shrugging the question off. "Beside, if you don't like it shouldn't you have bet that cute ass of yours in the first place, right?" there was a grin on Hanabi's face, leaving Hinata a bit dumb struck when Hanabi opened the door to the classroom.

They weren't sure what they might have expected when coming to class this morning, but it surely wasn't the sight they saw upon entering the classroom. There was a crowd gathered around the place Ino sat, everyone trying to get a look. Curious about what this commotion might be about were the girls making their way through the crowd, aiming for their own seats. Once there were they also looking what this all was about.

Ino was trying to fight off her classmates, trying to defend a few piece of paper that were scattered over her desk. "I said I would let you have a look, but not all at once! Get lost!" she shouted angrily, delivering a few weak punches to some classmates around her.

Realizing that her friend could need a hand did both sisters share the same thought. "Byakugan!" they shouted in union before quickly delivering some chakra infused punches to some of the gathered crowd. They were only aiming for not important bodyparts that would be numb for a short period after being hit, but it worked to let the crowd shatter and move away.

"Don't you think that was a bit too extreme?" Shikamaru asked lazily from his seat behind them before yawning, his head placed atop of his arms as usual, his eyes closed. "I mean, sure, they were nagging and all..."

Realizing what just happened and seeing her friends relax was Ino giving them a wide smile. "Thanks you two. You came just at the right time. I was afraid to get crushed below that crowd. I mean, what is so hard to understand on the phrase 'in order', huh?"

Hanabi had a small grin on her face. "No problem. That's the least I could do to repay you the favor from yesterday, right? So... what was this commotion about anyway?" she looked over Ino's shoulder on the papers the blonde girl was defending.

"Glad you feel better today." Ino replied still smiling before showing the papers to her friends. "You see, my dad and I bumped into C on our way home after the genin test. When he saw me was he grinning like mad, really don't know why, and said he had a challenge for me. Said I wouldn't be able to gather informations about the most prominent jonin that applied to become jonin-sensei for us new genin this year." she shrugged slightly.

"So you decided to make your nickname honor and tried to find out as much as you could?" Hinata asked, taking a piece of paper and scanning the contents. "Uhm... were exactly did you get these informations? I didn't know anything about that..." she handed the paper over to Hanabi who whistled.

"Really now? Spooky does have a bounty on his head? And... Sharingan? You mean the bloodline from the Uchiha? That's new to me too." Hanabi stated, looking at Ino with expectation written across her face. Even Shikamaru was opening one eye to look in front of him, symbolizing that he was intrested to know as well.

Now was it Ino's time to grin at her friends. "Well, it wasn't too hard to find out. You know that my dad is having a high position in T&I, right? I just sweet-talked him into telling me about the jonin who applied to be sensei this year. He even showed me the bingo book entrances for Spooky and the Hokage's son."

"Doesn't sound like a hard challenge if you simply asked your father..." Shikamaru said yawning. "On the other hand... did the Queen of Gossip know exactly who to ask to get these informations. That wasn't half bad."

"Ah, shut up, Shika. I don't know why he challenged me at all, but I'll show him that I won. It's that simple!" Ino snapped back at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"So... who do you think we will get as sensei? I really hope it won't be Anko..." Hinata said quietly, slight fear inside her voice. She rarely saw the woman in question, but there was an aura around her that gave her goosebumbs. She was glad that Anko hadn't stopped her after the Mizuki incident when she was carrying her sister home.

"No idea, sis... though I'm not sure I like any of these candidates. A genjutsu mistress? Can't really teach us something. Spooky is lazy as hell, Anko is too unpredictable and scary... Dunno about the old mans son." Hanabi shrugged. "He might be intresting."

"But his smoking habit shall be extremely bad." Ino piqued in. "I mean, this can't be healthy for the ones around him, right?"

"Well, guess we just need to wait and see, right?" a voice spoke up, drawing the attention of the girls away from the papers and to the newcomer. Naruto gave them one of his wide smiles and waved. "Hey girls. You look better, Hanabi. Everything okay?"

Said girl nodded slightly. "Yeah, a bit at least. But I promise that the next person asking me that will get a punch. I mean, seriously, can't someone mope around a day without everyone asking if you are okay? It's not like I had no reason for it..." she spoke the last part pretty quietly and more to herself than anybody.

"Glad to hear. You were really scary yesterday, you know that?" Naruto grinned. "Though, if you ever need someone to talk, you know you can come to me, right? I'll always be there for my friends, believe it!"

"I know, thanks." Hanabi smiled weakly. "Glad to have you as friend, Naruto. Our lives would be totally different if we hadn't met you."

"Technically wouldn't you have your scar or be kidnapped if you wouldn't know Naruto..." Shikamaru spoke up before yawning again. "It would be less troublesome..."

"Shut up, Shikamaru! It would be less fun too, and that would be sad!" Hanabi grumbled.

"Yeah, really man, why do you have to always point out the negative things? There were so many great things happening since we met, wouldn't want to miss them either." Naruto agreed.

Closing his eye shut again was Shikamaru mumbling "Too troublesome to even argue with you..."

Before anyone could say more was the door opening and Iruka entering the classroom, carrying some papers under his arm. "Alright everyone, please get on your seats and calm down. This is important for all of you so please listen to me. I'll anounce the team assignments to you and you will then wait here for your jonin-sensei to pick you up. If there are any questions please wait til I'm done. Got that?"

"But what about Sasuke-kun?" Sakura loudly spoke up. "Why isn't he here? He was the best from all of us and clearly had passed, right?"

"I said... to wait with your questions... Til! I'm! Done!" Iruka yelled at the pink haird girl, effectively silencing her. "That's better. Alright, shall we start then?"

The first team assignments Iruka anounced were of genin and jonin that weren't too prominent within the village. Considering the high amount of clan heirs in his class was this not really surprising that he was waiting with them for the end.

"That leads us to team 7 which will be formed by Hanabi Hyuga, Hinata Hyuga and Naruto Uzumaki. Leader of team 7 will be Kakashi Hatake." the moment he finished his sentence were his ears ringing by the sudden outburst from Hanabi.

"Say that again!?" she yelled loudly before letting her head drop down on the table in front of her. "Not the lazy Spooky..." she mumbled the last part while Ino was gently stroking her back for comfort.

"I don't see your problem, Hanabi. Kakashi is one of our best jonin and will surely be able to teach you a lot." Iruka stated, watching the state of the girl carefully. He was well informed about the things she went through and was asked by the Hokage to be gentle with her because of the Mizuki incident.

Not reacting at that was Hanabi still listening to her surroundings and the soothing words from Ino. It was Naruto who answered for her. "He was stupid enough to piss her off yesterday. Guess she still haven't forgiven him for that. Just hope he won't dump us like every other genin team he was supposed to train..." he too had a quick look on Ino's notes before he went to his seat after Iruka entered the room.

"Ah, yes, I see. I'm sure you will be able to work things out with him. Okay, moving on. Team 8 will be formed by Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka and Sakura Haruno. Your sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi." his eyes landed on Sakura after he was finished talking, looking at her with a serious expression.

She was about to speak up, to complain why she wasn't in a team with Sasuke followed by another question where he is, but gulped it down after seeing the look Iruka gave her. Telling herself that she could wait the two minutes for him to finish the assignments.

"As there are no other outbursts to take care off..." Iruka continued. "Alright, team 9 is still active from last year which leads us to team 10. It will be formed by Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi. Your sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi. These are all teams for this year. Any questions?"

After hearing that did Ino stop to comfort Hanabi, her head landing on the table in front of her. "Not the smoking one... so much for my health..." she mumbled frustrated, Hinata now gently stroking her back with a worried look on her sister who still didn't moved away from the table.

The lazy Shikamaru sitting behind her spoke quietly, but hearable for the girls in front of him. "We are shinobi now. I guess cigarette smoke will be the smallest threats to our health. So troublesome..."

Taking this opportunity to finally being allowed to speak up was Sakura raising her voice again. "What about Sasuke-kun? Why is he on no team? He must have clearly passed, right?"

"Well Sakura, that is were you are wrong. He hadn't passed the genin test. To be honest, I haven't seen him or Mizuki since then anymore. I do wonder where these two are..." Iruka explained before trailing off into his thoughts.

"He... didn't pass?" Sakura shouted out in shock. "How could he not pass? The required things were nothing and he was able to do all of them when we just started. That's impossible! And what do you mean you haven't seen him anymore? Where is he?" her eyes darted on Naruto, switched to the Hyuga sisters and back to Naruto, her anger rising. "I know! You have something to do with it, right?"

Naruto put a sheepish grin on his face and shrugged. "Well, it is true that I saw him talking to Mizuki-sensei after the genin test. But I don't know more. It's top secret, you know?"

"Say that again?!" Sakura bursted out in anger. "You do know something. You did something to him, right? You and your... your... bitches! Tell me!"

That snapped both Hanabi and Hinata at attention, the encounter with Mizuki still fresh within their minds. He called them the same way, making them enraged. And Naruto... their eyes focused on him, expecting him to get angry like he did against Mizuki. Before he got the chance to reply anything did a new voice spoke up. "Alright kids, now calm down and be nice to each other."

The room went silent when an aura filled it, sending a shiver down the spine of most of the kids. "What are you doing here, Anko? It's true that I just finished the assignments, but you got no team. I'm not even sure why you applied for one in the first place." Iruka spoke up, looking at the woman standing next to him.

Anko was shrugging it off. "Yeah, I know. Spooky got the team I wanted to take and I wasn't intrested in taking any other. Anyway, I'm here for the little one. But it seems I need to set some of these kids straight before something ugly happens, huh?"

"I do have a name..." Hanabi grumbled quietly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"So does your sister. C told me the story, now shush!" Anko said grinning before focusing on Sakura. "Okay Pinky, listen good, the events from the day of the genin tests are classified as secret so I would suggest you to not try to pry into it if you aren't intrested in taking a visit to T&I. Got that?"

Sakura was currently too afraid to reply something and simply nodded, bringing an evil smile on Anko's face. "Now that's a good girl." Anko watched the girl when she was gulping before speaking to the assembled class. "Alright, as Iruka might have told you will your assigned jonin-senseis pick you up soon. You'll all wait for them here, understood? And Hanabi..." she looked at the girl who looked back with defiance in her eyes. "Heh, I like that expression of yours. Would have loved to play with you. Anyway, C asks for you to visit him once Spooky is done with you."

She wasn't waiting for a reply and headed for the door but was stopped by Iruka's voice. "Now that's rare that you are playing messenger for others."

Simply shrugging was Anko opening the door. "Aw, it's an exception, you see? He's currently too tied up in something to come here himself." and with these words was she gone.

Shaking his head was Iruka adressing the class again. "Alright, as you just heard, you will wait for your sensei's here. Any more questions?" waiting a moment and getting no reply was he nodding. "Alright, I'm leaving too. Make me proud, will you?" he gave them a last smile before leaving the classroom as well, leaving his students behind.

As soon as the door closed were several things happening. Both Kiba and Sakura got up from their seats, aiming for the Hyuga girls with high speed. Naruto, seeing what was going to happen, rose as well to intercept them. Hinata too realized what was happening within the classroom and left her seat to place herself between Hanabi and the rushing classmates of them. However, before anything could happen were the three moving kids stopped in the middle of their movements, leaving the defensive Hinata a bit surprised by what just happened and also glad that she hadn't have to defend her mistress yet.

"Too troublesome..." Shikamaru muttered quietly. "Shadow Posession jutsu, succesful. Do you really want to start a fight right now with several jonin on the way to our class? You can't be that dumb, right?"

"But I know that they did something!" Sakura yelled. "I mean, how could Naruto know that there are classified events? Only if he was there, right? He and these stupid bitches... What have you done to Sasuke-kun?" she demanded, her eyes glaring at Naruto, Shikamaru and the girls, switching from one to the other.

"Yeah! And what was that just now? The crazy lady appearing here to tell Hanabi to meet up with C? Why is she getting all this advanced treatment? That's totally not fair! Explain!" Kiba barked in, hate shown in his eyes.

"So what? You think you can just approach them and beat some answers out of them? Have you ever considered what they might have gone through and that there could be a reason for them to go and speak with someone? Why aren't you giving them a break for a change? You really are obsessed with your hate for them..." Naruto shouted back at both his classmates, an angry expression on his face.

"Really now?" Kiba said sarcastic, rolling his eyes. "The kidnapping was a good three years ago. If they aren't over it yet is it there own fault!" he only said these words in anger, but they hit hard for multiple reasons. Basicly the whole class fell silent in an instant, all eyes focusing on the Hyuga sisters now. Kiba had kept shut about it since the day he got these informations on Hinata's 10th birthday. It wasn't intended from him to let this information slip now, but it happened anyway.

The civilian kids in their class started to whisper with each other, processing this new information and bringing additional rumours on it's way right away. From the clan heirs was nobody surprised by that information because they knew it already to some degree. The sisters and Naruto were involved as victims. Shino was the one who found the broken earpiece back then and he could make that conclusion pretty easy when the rumours came up the first time. Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji and Kiba learned about it on Hinata's 10th birthday.

"You really got yourselfs kidnapped? How stupid can one be?" Sakura blurted out, an evil smirk on her face. "And then do you have the nerve to sabotage Sasuke-kun?". She was one of the kids that didn't knew about it yet and was going to take advantage of this knowledge.

"Thanks Kiba..." Hanabi said in a low voice filled with venom, her eyes focused on him. "Thanks for telling the whole village..."

Before the situation could escalate any further was the room suddenly filled with floating leaves, calming the minds down a little and sending some of the civilian kids into a slumber. "Okay, I don't know what's going on here and I'm not sure if I actually want to know at all. But I think that you all should settle down now and leave whatever matter it is alone." a woman spoke up, drawing the attention of the still awake kids on her.

In front of the classroom stood a woman with shoulder long black hair and red eyes who basicly seems to have appeared out of nowhere. "And to be honest am I even more disappointed by the fact that two of my genin are somehow involved in this commotion." she shook her head before looking at Shikamaru. "Nara, would you please release my genin that I can take them with me?"

Shino was already on his way down to follow his jonin sensei, figuring that she must be Kurenai Yuhi, the one responsible for team 8, the moment she spoke about her genin being involved. Nodding slightly was Shikamaru releasing the hold he had on the shadows of Kiba and Sakura, letting them too walk towards their new sensei, both letting their heads hang slightly.

"At least do you know that you did something stupid..." she said with disappointment in her voice. "Really, that's no good first impression you made on me. At least do I understand now why they wouldn't let me take one of the Hyuga girls into my team. Fine, since you asked for it will we start with some training before the introduction. Meet me in front of the Academy." was all she said, not even waiting for a response, before vanishing from sight like an illusion in the desert fading away.

"Thanks for the workout." Shino said in his usual neutral voice, giving both Sakura and Kiba a quick look before heading out of the classroom. His now teammates were following quietly, heads still hanging, knowing that they just made their lifes most likely a lot harder with this action.

Once they were gone was Shikamaru finally releasing Naruto as well, who also calmed down by now. "Thanks for stopping them, Shikamaru. Might have turned out ugly..." Naruto stated while moving over to the girls to check if they were okay.

"This day is already way too troublesome..." the shadow user replied, placing his head atop his arms on his desk to relax. "Way too troublesome..."

When he reached his friends was Hinata holding Hanabi close to her body and Ino was trying to calm her down somehow. While both sisters got insulted was Hanabi the one with more unstable temper, her current state of mind not helping either, and shivering in anger. "How did he dare? I... He... First the thing with Hinata, now this... I'm so going to kill him!" she was trying to vent the rage by speaking out threats even so she wouldn't mind making them real.

"You know that this wasn't real, right Hanabi? We spoke about it this morning." Hinata tried to calm her down even more by remembering her that her sister was blaming the real Kiba for something that happened inside Hinata's mind.

"It was still Kiba!" she grumbled loudly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I know that I'll regret this, but..." Naruto started, getting looks from both Ino and Hinata that had worry written all over their faces. "You know Hanabi, let's just get him back for it. We weren't pranking anyone lately and he would make a good target, don't you think?"

Turning around to look at Naruto was Hanabi not sure what she should think about this suggestion. But when she saw the serious look on Naruto's face was a grin entering her face. "Okay, deal. Once we got some time will we work something out."

That helped to calm Hanabi down and they were talking about this and that while one jonin after the other came to pick up their new genins, some of them actually having problems to wake theirs up, the genjutsu Kurenai used being too strong for these kids, even so it was a pretty weak one. After a good 15 minutes were only teams 7 and 10 left in the classroom.

"I expected it from Spooky that he would run late. Didn't thought that the Hokage's son would do so too." Ino stated with a sigh, reading her notes about her new sensei for the 5th time already. "Just hope that he will be able to help me with my Flame jutsu. It's just so... useless as it is right now if I miss my target. Just like my clan's technique..."

"He's jonin and the son of the Hokage. I'm sure he will be able to help you, Ino." Chouji answered, offering an open bag of chips to his friends around him. "I mean, why would he take a genin team if he wouldn't be able to teach them?"

"And what if his father forced him to take one? Just like my mother is forcing me to do all the things I don't like?" Shikamaru asked yawning, snatching some chips from the bag and giving it to the next person.

"But he was guarding the feudal lord, right? And he is the son of the Hokage and also has a bounty on his head. That means he must be really strong, right?" Naruto pondered aloud, also taking some chips and passing the bag to the next one. "I wonder who might be stronger, he or Spooky?"

"I'm not sure about that... guess we never really tried." a voice answered before exhaling smoke into the group of kids, taking some chips as well and eating them. "Ah, great flavor. Akimichi house-made, right?"

All kids started to cough before eyeing the person who just spoke and used them as target for his cigarette smoke. Hinata was the first to speak. "That's... the Hokage's son. Asuma Sarutobi. When..." she trailed off with her sentence, starting to cough again when Asuma exhaled another load of smoke into the group.

He was sitting on a table next to them, adding to the circle they formed. "Around 5 minutes ago, I guess." he answered Hinata's unfinished question how long he was there already. "Your attention isn't the highest and I mean all six of you. But I must admit, you collected quite the data on me. Who of you gathered them and how?"

Ino was raising her hand, still coughing because of the smoke, before finally being able to speak. "That was me. C challenged me to gather information about the jonin sensei and I got them from my father. He even showed me your bingo book entry."

"Ah, I see. He wanted to test first hand if his evalution of you was right. Clever man indeed. Guess he was right that you might be a good spy, Queen of Gossip, at least did you know how to get these informations. Just curious: what do you have about Spooky?" he exhaled again from his cigarette, forcing the kids into another heavy coughing. Nevertheless was Ino handing him her notes about Kakashi. "Huh, no mention of his lazyness? Kinda disappointing." he grinned slightly.

"I thought that is common knowledge?" Hanabi said with a sarcastic voice, looking at Asuma. "And I'm stuck with him..."

Asuma was looking at the youngest of the group, thinking for a short moment. "You do remember that he saved your life? Twice, if I recall correctly?" he asked the girl who looked away, not daring to show him her kinda guilty expression at the reminder. "Thought as much. But you are right, his lazyness can be annoying as hell. Alright, team 10, we are leaving to get known with each other."

He got up from the table and lazily walked towards the exit of the room. Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji, all three of them still coughing lightly, gave a quick goodbye to their friends and followed him, leaving the sisters and Naruto behind as last.

"And as expected, Spooky is the last to come. Did someone bring lunch, just in case?" Hanabi asked, laying back on her chair and closing her eyes.

"Not really. But I could send a shadow clone over to Ichiraku, asking if he would deliver to us?" Naruto offered smiling, before looking at Hanabi. "So... how bad is it really? I mean... you know... you really looked bad when Hinata-chan carried you away from the battlefield..."

Hanabi sighed before answering. "I can't even explain how it feels like. See, if you are burned, it's hot and painful. If you are splashed with water, it's mostly cold and wet. But if you are touched by death?" she shivered, shaking her head. "I really don't know... it just felt... terrifying... But I'm better today, thanks to Ino and Hinata."

"Glad to hear. Really, if you need anything..." Naruto started but got interrupted by Hanabi.

"Yeah, I know. I'll let you know if you can help. Just let me relax for now, okay?" she said quietly, exhaustion in her voice. Not even needing to look at her sister was she adding some words. "I don't mind, sis."

A smile entered Hinata's face that confused Naruto for a short moment, before she walked over to him, sitting down on his lap and cuddling into his chest and shoulder. "Much better. Didn't got the chance for it yesterday..."

Naruto reacted quick and lay his arms around her, holding her close. "You had to look after your sister, that was more important." he was smiling gently, enjoying the closeness.

"Don't want to loose you to anyone..." Hinata said quietly, actually confusing Naruto with these words.

Having her that close to him and no distraction in his surroundings was he admiring the beauty of Hinata, when his eyes fell on something in particular. "Say, Hinata-chan, what is that below your headband?"

"Huh?" she wasn't reacting to that question at first, not really registering what Naruto just asked her. Some seconds passed before she finally realized the meaning of this question and blushed. "It's the collar Hanabi gave me as birthday present. Remember?"

She was trying to sound casual in hope of not raising any suspicion within Naruto. And it seemed to be working for now. "Ah, yes, I do. It suits you." he said gently, holding her a bit closer now. Both of them kept silent after that, simply enjoying the others presence.

Some time passed like that, while they waited for their sensei to appear and pick them up. Hanabi actually fell into a light slumber, Hinata and Naruto started to go into slight smalltalk about different but non-important things, while still clinging to each other. It was that scene Kakashi saw when he finally arrived around an hour later, looking at his genin in thought. "You know, if you pay that less attention out on a mission or on guard duty will you become easy targets in no time." he said mockingly.

"Knowing us and how we seem to attract problems whereever we go, do you think that would make any difference?" Hinata asked in return, looking at their new sensei. "Beside, if you were on time, like all the other jonin, would it never have come to this situation here in the first place." she moved her body slightly away from Naruto, still sitting on his lap.

"Maybe I was testing you and your patience, to see what you would do? And you failed miserably, from what I see here." he said smiling.

Opening one eye to look at Kakashi was Hanabi speaking up. "More like you were reading your dirty books again, unable to put them down and to come here on time."

"Trying to play it smart, huh? You are the one living the things in my books, I'm just reading about them." he said still smiling, getting a slightly confused look from Naruto who doesn't understood what they were talking about. "Anyway, glad to see that you are doing better, Hanabi. Are you okay?"

"I suppose..." Hanabi said sighing, opening her second eye and getting up from her seat, looking at Kakashi. "But not because of you and your actions..."

"I know, I know... sorry for yesterday. I should have known better." scratching the back of his head was his voice becoming slightly quieter while talking, before being back to normal. "So, I'm here to pick you up. Follow me on the roof that we can get to know each other better." and with these words was he disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

Hinata was climbing down from Naruto and Naruto got up from his seat as well. "Hey, Hanabi, you know that he..." Naruto started, but got interrupted by said girl.

"Yeah, I know." Hanabi confirmed with a nod, stretching her body from her short slumber.

"Does that mean that you..." he started again.

"Uhu, that's the plan." she confirmed.

"Don't you think that's a bit..." he tried again, all three of them already on their way to the door.

Hanabi shrugged at that. "A promise is a promise and I intend on keeping it. That's actually part of our clan rules, you know?"

Just some minutes later were they exiting the building through the door on the roof, where Kakashi was waiting for them already, motioning them to sit down on a bench standing there. The kids were following that invitation, but when Hanabi was passing Kakashi was she giving him a punch to the side, sitting down like nothing happened.

"Okay, could you please explain what that was for?" he asked irritated, looking at the young girl.

"Just fulfilling a promise I made. It just randomly happened to be you who asked me if I'm okay after I made the promise to punch the next person asking me that." she gave him an innocent smile. "Though I admit that it was a perk being you, after the way you acted yesterday."

"Fine, I'll take that as an excuse for now." he said while shaking his head, thinking that he would have a hard time with these kids. "Anyway, now that we are all gathered here can we start with the introduction. I'm Kakashi Hatake and from today on will I be your jonin-sensei. So, please tell me about yourselfs. You know, like dreams, wishes, what you like or hate, the way you fight, stuff like that."

"Wait, that's it?" Naruto asked. "No word about yourself? Your bounty, your Sharingan, that you fought in a war? You expect us to tell you all but don't tell something in return? Beside of the fact that we all know each other for how long? Three years? You said you are intrested in me back then, remember?" Naruto was grinning at Kakashi.

Blinking his eye a few times was Kakashi thinking about what to say. After a short moment was he answering. "Okay, where did you get these informations? I'm pretty sure that you shouldn't know about them."

Naruto was looking at the girls for a moment and both of them shook their heads, increasing the grin on Naruto's face even more. "I'm sorry sensei, but I'm not allowed to reveal my sources."

Kakashi facepalmed and sighed. "I see... it was Ino, right? And I suppose C was involved, correct?" he pondered aloud, watching the reactions of his genin who tried to hide their emotions but failed. "And if it was Ino who gathered these informations do I guess that she somehow got them from her father, knowing that he is treating her like a princess and all... Am I close?" he directed his question at the kids who slightly flinched.

"How did you do that, Spooky?" Hanabi asked in disbelief.

He gave them a wide smile. "Wasn't that hard. I met Asuma and his team on my way to the Academy and he told me about it. Just wanted to see your reactions." Hanabi was glaring at him and Hinata shook her head. Naruto simply smiled back. "Alright, fine. Yes, I fought in the last war and I most likely got the bounty placed on my head because of that. As for the Sharingan... it's a personal story I don't want to share. So, now it's your turn."

Naruto was slowly nodding to these informations, being satisfied for the moment. "Okay, I'll start. I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I intend on becoming Hokage and have my own family. For fighting do I use a staff because I don't have an elemental affinity... I love ramen and I hate people breaking their promises!" he exclaimed loudly.

"You want to be Hokage, Naruto-kun? That's the first time I hear about that." Hinata asked surprised, looking at him.

"Yeah, I know..." he scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepish. "You see, after the fight with Mizuki and seeing the old man did I think about it. I never got a family, so I want one. And with the nine-tailed fox and all..."

Hanabi interrupted him at this point. "You aren't believing what Mizuki-sensei told you, right? I mean, he clearly lied to you, that stupid..." she trailed off, remembering him molesting her.

Naruto shook his head. "The old man told me that it is the truth when I was there with C... and after that was he giving me the scroll for the Shadow Clone jutsu. I wonder if there is a connection?" he thought out loud.

Hinata looked at him in surprise and Kakashi too was surprised to learn that Naruto knew about the fox. "Say that again!?" Hanabi bursted out, looking at Naruto, before realization hit her. "So that's why the villagers hate you? It must be it... and it would explain your high amount of chakra too... but why did nobody ever tell you?"

Her eyes fell on Kakashi who gulped at the look she was giving him. He had expected any kind of reaction from the girls when they would learn about that, from fear to hate, but not this one. "Don't look at me. It wasn't my job to tell anybody about it. In fact is there a law against telling anybody. I mean, I can't break the rules, can I?" Kakashi stated.

"You... knew?" Naruto asked. "Of course you do. That's why you are intrested in me, isn't it? And Iruka-sensei does know too, right? And C? Mizuki-sensei knew as well..." he was thinking about it for a moment. "Does everyone know about it except for me?"

"Well... more or less anyone who can remember the attack, so probably all adults within the village?"

"But... don't you know how bad they treated Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked frustrated. "And then for something he isn't even responsible for? I mean, he is Naruto-kun, not the nine-tailed fox..." she looked down on the ground not wanting to show anyone the tears that were entering her eyes.

"I know that he is Naruto. Did I ever treat him badly? Or most of the shinobi forces? We know the difference between a boy and a demon. Could we please move on now?" Kakashi asked with desperation in his voice, really not wanting to discuss this topic right now.

"Fine... I'll ask more about it later..." Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Uhm... okay... Guess I'm next then? Name is Hanabi Hyuga and my goal is to protect the ones I care for. I hate it to be in situations in which I am helpless..." she trailed off for a moment, shaking her head to get it straight again. "I'm capable of using my clan's signature taijutsu style Gentle Fist and do have our bloodline, the Byakugan. Am also training in Earth Style jutsu. And if anybody is laying a finger on my sister will they regret it!" she shouted the last part for no visible reason, surprising the ones around her.

"Alright, I see. Guess C was right about you... it's really scary how accurate his informations are. Last one please." Kakashi noted to himself before looking at Hinata.

Having wiped off the forming tears was Hinata nodding and raising her head again. "I'm Hinata Hyuga and, like my sister here, am I capable of our clan's style and have our bloodline. In addition to that am I training in Water Style jutsu. Uhm..." she touched her lip with her finger, thinking about it for a moment. "I love my sister and I like Naruto-kun and... uhm... I guess I hate it to be helpless too, and... I don't know..." she shrugged. "I'm not good with these things... can we skip it?" she asked hopefully.

"That's fine with me. At least did you try." Kakashi was smiling at the kids. "It wasn't quite what I expected but it does work as an introduction. Besides, Naruto was right that we kinda know each other for some years now. If there aren't any more questions would I say that we are done for today. Meet me tomorrow morning at seven on the training field you usually used for your elemental training for our first team training. You have the rest of the day for yourselfs."

"That's great. You girls wanna come along to get something to eat at Ichiraku's?" Naruto asked, sporting a smile himself.

Hanabi shook her head. "Sorry Naruto, but you heard Anko, didn't you? We will go visit C now. Want to know what he wants me for..."

"Oh, that reminds me." Kakashi interrupted their talk and searched through the bag he was wearing at his waist. After a moment was he pulling out a playing card and tossed it towards Hanabi who managed to catch it. "He asked me to give you that when you became a Kunoichi. See ya!" he gave them a wave and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

The kids were looking at the card Hanabi was holding, examining it. "Isn't that one of his playing cards? It's a joker with... the image of a cage on it?" Hinata asked confused, looking at the others.

"That's one of his, yes. I wonder where and when Spooky got his hands on it? And he should give it to you?" Naruto asked, looking at Hanabi.

Said girl was thinking, before searching something in her own bag, pulling out the ace of clubs he gave her back then. "And I still have this one... Sis, we are going to see what he wants and will also talk about these cards with him. See you later, Naruto."

"Sure thing. Tell me what it is with these cards when you know, okay?" Naruto answered with a nod.

"Will do. We join you at Ichiraku's afterwards. Sis, you coming?". Getting a confirmation from Hinata and, for now at least, distracted from her problems was Hanabi heading off to take a visit at C's place, with Hinata following behind her. She was desperate to get some answers this time. After all, right now was she fulfilling the requirements for him to tell her about the ace of clubs at least, with Hinata wearing her collar. The one thing C demanded to be the case to tell them...


	23. Chapter 22 - Testing the Genin

**C's Scouting Report: Nothingness**

"Yo boss, just wanted to tell that there is nothing to tell. I mean, you know about the results of the genin tests already. You made the team assignments. You are informed about the events of the evening of the genin tests. You got your ANBU on the tail of the Uchiha boy.

So nothing of intrest inside the village right now. And for outside... well... haven't gotten any intresting reports from my network lately. It's kinda quiet. You know, the boring kind of quiet I would say. I'm bored, boss. Give me something to do, will ya?

No real progress on the 'Dark Side of Konoha' history either. Am trying to dig something up regarding the Yamanaka clan, but it's actually pretty hard to get on informations from them. It's really proving to be a challenge, even for me. Must be some big secret they are trying to hide from their past. Again, give me something to do or I'll eventually come up with more dirty laundry from your oh so mighty and and respected clans.

Seriously, boss, I'm bored..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 22:** **Testing the Genin**

Hanabi was knocking on C's door, waiting for him to open it, her sister standing behind her. There were several reasons for her visit, like the playing cards she got from him, the fact that he actually asked for them to come over and a still open bill between her and him regarding the trauma he gave her during the Mizuki fight. She hadn't got the opportunity to yell at him for that yet and she would make sure to do so. Sure, she was aware that it might have come worse for her if it weren't for him stepping in to kill Mizuki, but that doesn't meant that she wouldn't tell him about her discomfort.

It didn't took him long to answer the door and upon seeing the girls was he giving them a smile. "I wasn't expecting you that early. Is Spooky already done with you or did he never show up and you simply decided to leave?" he gave them a wink to follow him inside and turned around.

The girls were following and closing the door behind them. "He's already done with us for today. But I think the introduction he did wasn't going the way he imagined it to go." Hanabi replied while all three of them sat down at the small table in the middle of his apartment. "Okay, here we are. I have some things to speak about as well, but you may start. Why did you ask for us to visit you?"

"Knowing you will I regret the question, but... how are you feeling? I'm well aware what I put you through and from what I heard about your actions yesterday can I only guess that you haven't taken it too well. See, I'm really sorry about that, but I can't change it anymore. So?" C asked with honest concern in his voice.

Hanabi sighed. "Good call... I already punched Spooky for asking me the same question. And it doesn't really help that Dogboy blurted out about the kidnapping in front of the whole class..." her eyes focused on C, slight anger visible in hers. "I know that you are honestly regretting it and that's why I will be honest as well... it's still there..." she said quietly, getting worried looks from both C and her sister.

"Woah, wait a minute? What do you mean it's still there?" C's voice was increasing a bit, worry sneaking in it. "I'm working with Black Jack for quite some time and he's never stuck to anybody. That shouldn't be possible at all. It's either killing or passing."

All Hanabi could do was shrug. "When I close my eyes... when I go to sleep... it's there. Lurking around in the shadows in front of me, always giving me a glare whenever possible. I'm having nightmares showing me all my fears." she raised her arm, showing her burn scar. "The inferno trying to claim my life, the icy mist you used to capture us and your Black Jack having his eyes set on me... You know, you and your Organization are the reason for all three of these things..."

Hinata was placing her hands over her mouth in shock before quietly speaking. "I didn't know... I wouldn't have asked Ino to enter your mind if I had known..."

"You asked the little Yamanaka girl to enter your sisters mind? After the situation with that creep? You must be crazy, girl..." C said in disbelief, shaking his head.

"What should I have done? I was totally worried about her yesterday... and after she left my mind was Hanabi that spaced out that I asked her out of instinct." Hinata defended her decision.

Raising an eyebrow was C watching both sisters in disbelief. "She was in your mind as well? Sometimes I do wonder about the things you do... what were you thinking? Did she tell you what she had found? Now that would be intresting to know." a grin entering his face.

"Pervert..." Hanabi mumbled quietly before looking at Hinata. "But no, she didn't tell, did she, sis? I mean, at least not to me."

Shaking her head was Hinata shrugging her shoulders. "Not to me either. But whatever she saw or did, it at least helped with the nightmares, didn't it?" there was a small smile on Hinata's lips.

"What kind of nightmares? Wanna talk about them?" C asked sweetly, hoping to learn more dirty things about his favorite girls.

"Definately not!" Hinata said out loud at the same time as Hanabi spoke. "I forbid you to tell him, sis!"

Bursting out into laughter was C looking amused at the girls. "Okay, right, seems like my guess is correct. It is something dirty about the slavery, isn't it?"

A crimson blush entered Hinata's face and she looked down on the ground while Hanabi glared at him. "We do appreciate your help with some things, but don't force it. We know how to hurt people and defend ourselfs."

"Alright, alright..." he raised his hands in surrender. "I understand that this is another story you won't tell me. Sadly noted. So, shall we move one? You said you had questions for me?"

Taking a deep breath to calm herself down did Hanabi nod, taking out the two playing cards from her pocket and placing them on the table. "You said you would tell us about the ace if I bring my sister with me while she is properly dressed, which she is right now. And Spooky gave me the joker today, saying that you asked him to give it to me. What's up with this one?"

"Ah, right, I nearly forgot about the joker. I asked him after he defeated me to give it to you once you became a kunoichi. Wouldn't have thought that we would meet each other again at that point. Okay, fine, I'll tell you about both cards. By the way, why are you hiding that beautiful collar anyway?" Hinata's blush just increased by that question. "I see. So, which card shall be first?" he looked at Hanabi.

She didn't need long to decide on an answer to that question. "The ace because I got it from you first. I haven't tried to unseal it in quite some time because I was busy training. You told me that it would be similiar to your ace of hearts in which you stored your emergency rations, right?"

"True. The ace of clubs is basicly the same, just filled with other things. Alright, watch my hands and try to remember the signs." he explained before slowly making three handsigns, Hanabi nodding to each of it. "Then it's channeling your chakra on the symbol of the ace and... here we go. Card Tricks: Ace of Clubs.". The table was covered in smoke when some things got released from the card. The moment the smoke vanished did Hanabi's eyes went wide while Hinata paled, their eyes fell on the released contents.

"No comments? How boring... I mean, okay, I know it's nothing special and all, but..." C said with a mixture of mocking, sarcasm and disappointment in his voice. "It's just some basic things. There are more special ones sealed in it is well."

"These are..." Hanabi started, her eyes still fixed on the objects laying on the table. She shook her head to get her thoughts straight and her eyes away from them, looking at C. "Why the hell would you want me to have something like that? That's just sick you... pervert!"

"That hurts... Naming me a pervert twice in just 10 minutes. Do you really hate me that much?" his voice sounded hurt, but the grin on his face gave away that he was just playing with the girls. "Look at it from my side. I had you as my guests back then..."

"You mean you captured us to sell us on a slave market." Hanabi interrupted him, giving him a glare.

"As I just said did I have you as my guests and learned about your relationship. And, I'm not sure if you remember that, I basicly took a liking to you two in an instant. It was breaking my heart having to sell you and I was glad when Spooky came for your rescue. I thought my life was over, which is why I wanted to give you some useful tools before I was done for. Sure, it's nice that I still live and get to spend time with you, but that doesn't change the fact that I wanted you to have useful tools." C finished his explanations, looking at the girls.

"But..." Hanabi started but stopped, looking at the things on the table. "What does that all have to do with these?"

His grin got even wider, just having waited for this question. "Sister or not, you got yourself a slave. A fine one I want to add. Beautiful, obedient and loyal to the core. Still, there will be times when even the most obedient of slaves will disappoint and not follow orders. And then is the time you will need proper tools to discipline them."

Hinata wasn't having any color left on her face after listening to C's explanations and her eyes glued to the stuff on the table. It was then that something snapped within her mind and she turned to look with pleading eyes at her sister. "Please mistress, there is really no need for that. I promise you that you will never be in the situation to have to use these things on me."

That outburst surprised Hanabi, just now realizing how afraid her sister was of these things. A small smirk entered her lips and she picked up some rope and a small whip from the table, taking a closer look on them. "I think I start to understand what you are trying to tell me, C..." she spoke slowly while examing the things in her hands. "And I appreciate your consideration. It might be a good idea to have something like that in close range, just in case."

Upon hearing that was Hinata backing away from her sister, fear shown on her face. She wasn't sure right now whether Hanabi would really be that cruel to use stuff like that on her or not. Seeing that reaction did Hanabi start to giggle before switching over into laughter, holding her stomach. "Sorry sis, but you are way too easy to tease, I just couldn't resist."

"You are mean..." Hinata spoke quietly before letting her head hang in defeat. She really wasn't sure about her sister anymore, seeing that she slowly changed over time. The things they went through most likely being a factor for her changes as well. If she just could help her get over it...

Trying out the handsigns C showed her was Hanabi sealing the things back away into the ace and put it into her pocket. "Okay, that's working. I'll look through the contents later. Thanks for them, I guess. But now am I curious... the joker is showing a cage. Does that mean..."

Hinata's eyes went wide in realization. "No! Just no! No, no, no! Don't even think about putting me in one! That's just... no!" she glared at C. "Don't even try to corrupt my sister with your perverted thoughts. As she said before, we know how to hurt people and I'm going to hurt you if you dare to try!" the fire was suddenly back in her, her face having gained color again.

Having a big grin on his face was C looking at Hanabi. "You know, little one, your slave is quite rebellious, don't you think? I would say you need to discipline her a little that she won't just attack people. After all, you are responsible for all her actions, remember?" he knew that he was pushing his luck right now, but he couldn't help it and had to add fuel to the fire, trying to escalate this joke. This new outburst from Hinata came unexpected, but he quickly decided to pick it up for his own amusement.

To say Hanabi was troubled right now might be an understatement. On one side was C totally right, that she would be responsible for her sisters actions. If Hinata would just attack someone might she get all the trouble with the victims and officials. On the other side however... "Sis, sit down and behave!" she shot Hinata a look that let no room for discussions and Hinata sat back down, grumbling to herself.

A victorious grin entered C's face, something Hanabi saw, and she grinned back at him. "You know, you might be right about me and her, but... if I tell the old man that you provoked her into attacking you will he surely just nod in understanding. After all, he does know you as well, right?"

Looking back at the girl was C short for words for a moment, before he started to laugh. "Alright, well played, kid. But you should be careful out there. A slave can easily bring you into trouble..." he trailed off, leaving the girls to wonder what he meant by that. It was just a second and C got his mind back to the task at hand. "So, you want to know about the joker, right? The long or short version?"

Feeling that Hinata was still upset by him was Hanabi deciding on the most logical response. "The short version. I'm not sure if we are able to handle your presence for much longer today.". Her voice was slightly louder and more agressive than she intended, but she was giving that no mind.

"Aw, that hurt..." C replied in mock disappointment. "Well, short version then. The card does indeed contain a cage. Though it is no ordinary one, but one I personally modified. If used and locked up will it emit a chakra signature my network is able to detect. They will come to pick it up and deliver it to whereever you want the cage and it contents to be dropped off."

The girls waited for more to come, but C kept silent after that. Hinata was the first to realize that he really meant it when he said it will be short. "And... why exactly should we want to have something like that?" she asked curious, her anger having dropped a little bit, but was still hearable in it.

"I don't know." he shrugged in reply. "You two are supposed to be smart girls, get creative. I know what I used the cage for and I don't need it anymore. In fact did I thought I was done for when Spooky beat me so I decided to pass it along. But you wanted the short version, so yeah, you got it. Figure it out yourselfs. Please close the door when you leave." with these words was he getting up from the table, further ignoring the girls, and walking to his kitchen to make himself something to eat.

The sisters looked at each other and decided to quietly leave his apartment, realizing that they wouldn't get any more informations out of their friend. Once outside was Hanabi looking at her older sister in confusion. "You think we hurt his feelings just now? Or is he playing a trick on us?"

"I'm not sure..." Hinata replied with the same confusion. "It's the first time he reacted like that, isn't it? Maybe we really hurt him just now, by acting in a way reminding him on something bad in his past? I mean... he's three times as old as us, right? Thinking about what we went through already... what must he have gone through in his life?"

Hanabi was slowly nodding, already walking away from the apartment with her sister following. "Yeah, you might be right. Remember the day he captured us? When you discussed about names?" she looked back at her sister who nodded. "What did he say about that girl who all just called 'Bitch'? He never mentioned her after that... but maybe there is more to it? We just bitched at him, didn't we?"

"I guess... should we appologize to him the next time we meet?" there was slight worry in Hinata's voice and both girls drifted off to their own thoughts about what just happened. On the positive side of this however stood the fact that they weren't thinking about their own problems for now.

Training Fields, the next morning

Naruto was the first to arrive on the training field Hanabi and Hinata usually used for their elemental training. The same training field on which they tested their chakra elements. He sighed to himself when this memory entered his mind. He still didn't knew why he wasn't having a chakra element and he was annoyed by that. There was nobody that could explain it to him either. All he had was his staff while his friends became stronger, trying out new jutsu, learning elemental ones.

Looking around was he sitting down on a tree stump. He was hoping that Kakashi might be there already, but he knew that this hope would be wasted. Why would the one shinobi, known for his lazyness, be on time or even early for a sheduled meeting? So much for asking him about the fox some more. He figured that Kakashi doesn't really want to talk about that, but he had some questions he wanted answers for.

"And I need to ask the girls too..." he spoke to himself, laying back on the stump and relaxing. "They were behaving kinda strange lately but haven't told me anything yet. I thought they would eventually tell me what is going on, but they haven't so far... it's really strange."

Closing his eyes was he going through the things he noticed so far. Hinata never was the most open minded girl, but she got over her shyness quite well with the help from her friends. He also remembered the times when they were alone together, in which she became quite lively. Chuckling to himself was he thinking back on the time when she attacked him with the ramen brooth for trying the advanced staff moves while not having mastered the basics yet.

But he rarely saw that side from her again. She actually was kinda clinging to her younger sister whenever she was around her. And lately has it actually gotten worse in his opinion. Then was there the day after the genin tests, after the Mizuki incident. He could understand that they were not their usual selfs after what happened, he really could. But one thing he just couldn't place: why was Hinata calling her sister 'Hanabi-sama'? That made no sense to him and still, they haven't told him anything.

And what she said to him when they were waiting for Kakashi to pick them up after the assignments? She didn't wanted to loose him... why would she say something like that? Sure, he enjoyed holding her close to him, having her in his embrace. But it left him confused. The same with the fact that she was wearing the collar her sister got her as birthday present back then. It was the first time he saw her wearing it, but she did have it for at least two and an half years already. Why now?

"Heh, well, it does suit her somehow." he spoke to himself, smiling. "Haven't seen it in quite some time. Nearly forgot the picture that is etched in it's side. It's really beautiful.". His mind was going back to the day before, remembering the hour he held Hinata close to his body. He had more then enough time to study the details of the picture, of the young playful kitten, jumping around in the flower field, with petals being blown away by the wind. He was wondering who created that image and how much it might have Hanabi cost. After all did she say that she had the collar especially crafted for her sister.

His mind wandered along, reaching the introduction they held with Kakashi. It was to be expected that they would react in some way to the information of the nine-tailed sealed inside himself. He was happy that it was honest concern and not hate or anything. But all considered were both girls pretty normal at that time. Totally different to when they met him at Ichiraku's, after they visited C. Both of them were kinda distant, deep away within their thoughts. Sure, he asked them what happened, but they don't wanted to tell him. And the reply Hanabi gave when he asked about the cards. "Just some supplies." she said, confusing him even more. What happened between C and them? Should he have come along?

He got thrown out of his thoughts when he heard someone calling his name. Opening his eyes and sitting up was he looking towards the source of the voice, seeing his friends, and now teammates, walking in his direction. He gave them a wide smile and waved at them, shouting back. "Hey Hinata-chan, Hanabi-chan!"

The girls closed in on the boy and he could tell with one glance that they weren't within thoughts anymore. Whatever was on their minds must have left for now, something he figured must be a good sign. Before he got a chance to ask them about it however where they distracted by a swirl of leaves next to them, all three standing there with their mouths open in disbelief.

"What? Surprised to see me? You are aware that I told you to come here, right?" Kakashi asked neutraly, looking at his genin team.

"But... but... you are on time!" Hinata said out loud in surprise. "We waited over an hour for you yesterday and you got a reputation for always being late. How can you be here already?"

Naruto nodded to that. "She's right. Are you sick? If so, couldn't you have been early that I might have been able to ask you about the fox some more?" he looked at Kakashi with a mixture of hope, anger and curiosity.

"Honestly? I want to get this test over me that I can dump you like every other genin team I got so far." he said with an innocent smile and a neutral voice.

The three kids looked at him in shock before Hanabi spoke up. "When you met Ino's team yesterday did their sensei tell you all about her notes, huh?"

Kakashi simply shrugged. "He showed it to me, to be precise. After all was Ino having them with her. But I don't really need her notes to know that I 'dumped all genin teams so far'. I mean, I was the one doing it, right?"

It was then that something registered in Naruto's mind. "Wait, you said test? What test? We already passed the genin test!"

"Huh, took you long enough to register that. Don't you think the genin test was way too simple? I mean, seriously, do you think you can survive out there with some clones, the substitution and transformation?"

"I knew that the test was too easy..." Hanabi grumbled, glaring at Kakashi. "And no, we don't believe that. Remember who is standing before you?" she dug the fingers of her left hand into her burn scar and flinched slightly to prove her point.

"Yes, I know that. And that is the whole point, because I'm going to be honest with you. The reason why I dumped every genin team so far is that none of them passed my test. I always tested their teamwork and they always failed." he was getting different looks from the kids, ranging from suspicion to anger. "But it's different with you three. I know your past and I also know that teamwork won't be a problem with you. That's why I'm going to do my standard test with different rules."

"And what does that mean? Will you please explain it to us?" Hinata asked, having a curious look on her face.

Kakashi had a slight smirk on his face, looking at Hinata. That girl was somewhat too kind and curious in his opinion, that would bring her into trouble soon, that he was sure about. "Well, it's really simple. You see..." he pulled out two bells and showed them to the kids. "...all you need to do is to get these two bells from me to pass. As I said, it's originally a test about teamwork."

"Yeah, right, with two bells for three genin. Most likely combined with a threat for the one getting no bell, destroying any teamwork attempts?" Hanabi asked, her eyes clearly telling him that she wasn't too happy with the turn of events, anger in it.

"Good guess, I'll give you that. Your brain is working quickly, I can see why they allowed you to start Academy early. Okay, moving on. Your goal is the same as it was for every team before you, get the bells. You are allowed to use whatever you are capable of, but I'll give you a handycap to deal with. I still need to test you and it won't be on teamwork. It will be more on..." he thought about it for a moment. "I don't know. I want to see how you react in a situation that isn't looking good for you."

"Like the ones we were in three times already?" Naruto asked, his expression clearly showing suspicion against the jonin. "We got nearly burnt, we got kidnapped, we faced a traitorous chunin..."

"And you got rescued all three times, yes." Kakashi nodded. "Now do I want to see what you are able to do on your own. Please hand over all your tools to me."

"That isn't fair..." Naruto protested loudly, but was the first to step forward and handed Kakashi his staff segments and the pouch around his leg in which he had some kunai and shuriken. "You know that I'm only really good with the staff and don't even have an element..."

"True. But now think about what you would do if the enemy manages to disarm you?" the jonin asked, putting Naruto's stuff away. "Alright, Hanabi?"

Said girl shrugged and handed her kunai pouch over. "Not that big of a handycap to me. I rarely use them anyway."

Hinata nodded to that statement when she too handed Kakashi her kunai pouch, not seeing the grin that entered his face. "I'm aware of that, Hanabi. The proud Hyuga clan and their bloodline and unique taijutsu style... though, I said I would take away all your tools, so..." with these words was he quickly giving Hinata a strong punch into her stomach, knocking her out instantly and grabbing her the same moment, disappearing with her in a swirl of leaves.

"Sis!" "Hinata-chan!" Hanabi and Naruto shouted at the same time, before Hanabi continued. "What was that for, Spooky? She hasn't done anything to you!" her voice was filled with rage, her eyes scanning the area for signs of her sensei or sister.

"As I said, I would take away all your tools. She is listed as your property and property qualifies as tools. So I logically took away all of the tools you got with you, Hanabi." Kakashi's voice echoed from all around them.

Rage was raising within Hanabi, not really realizing what was spoken just now. All she could think about was the fact that Kakashi just hurt and kidnapped her sister, something she never wanted to happen again. They promised each other to watch out for their friends...

"Oh, that reminds me..." Kakashi's voice started again from directly behind Hanabi. She quickly turned around to attack him, but wasn't fast enough. The last thing she saw was Kakashi's hand moving right for her head before connecting with her forehead. A sudden pain shot through her head and she screamed out loud in agony, falling down to the ground, her hands holding her head.

Naruto saw that and reacted on instinct, quickly moving to attack Kakashi and help his friend, but he wasn't fast enough, only seeing Kakashi disappear in another swirl of leaves. He knelt down next to Hanabi and hugged her to his body, trying to comfort the girl, while ripping off the tag Kakashi slapped on her forehead. This reduced the pain Hanabi was feeling and she stopped screaming, tears running down her cheeks, her nerves still on high alert of the pain.

"Now do you have no tools left." Kakashi's voice echoed over the training field. "That tag just blocked the chakra flow to your eyes, sealing off your bloodline for at least some hours. The test starts now, good luck." and with these last words was the voice gone, Hanabi and Naruto left alone on the training field.

Somewhere inside the forest adjacent to the training field

"Aren't you supposed to test your genin team today?" C asked with slight surprise upon seeing Kakashi leaning at a tree, his nose buried within one of his favorite books. He was on a simple stroll, enjoying the fresh air of the early morning.

Without even looking up was Kakashi pointing behind him where a still unconscious Hinata was standing next to another tree, her hands tied at a low hanging branch above her, with the tools of his genin team hanging from the same branch as well. "I am. I gave them a task and took away their tools before I gave them the signal to start." he said neutrally, still not looking up. "And what about you, walking through the forest that early in the morning? Spying on something again?"

Not even bothering to answer that question was C raising an eyebrow. "You are aware that the little one is quite protective of her sister and will most likely not let this slip, right? But you got guts, I'll give you that. Saying them that you would take their tools and then kidnapping the slave... Guess they weren't expecting something like that to happen."

Finally putting his book away was Kakashi now looking at C. "Nope, took them by surprise. Am usually testing my genin teams on teamwork, but I thought I would make an exception this time and instead create a situation to their disadvantage. They got disarmed by the enemy, one of them got captured and they still got a mission to fulfill. Might be intresting to see what they will do now."

"While I see the point in your idea and must say that it is correct to confront them with a situation like that..." C shook his head slowly. "...would I say that you did a mistake with that. You know what they went through, right? I hope you were at least wise enough to not call out the whole slavery thing? As far as I can say does the boy have no knowledge about that yet."

"He... doesn't? But they are best friends, shouldn't he know?" Kakashi pondered aloud, guilt slowly creeping on his face. "I might have done something bad then... But it's too late now. Let's just hope that they will overcome it and manage to pass my test."

"Honestly? I wouldn't bet on it. The boy will most likely get enraged about learning that his girlfriend is a slave and the little one will either go berserk to get her sister back or get consumed by all her trauma. Good luck with dealing with that situation you created." he gave his friend a wave and turned to leave. Stopping for a moment, was he pulling out something from his pocket and throwing it to Kakashi who easily catched it. "At least do it right. That's for the girlie. Bye."

Watching his friend leave was Kakashi's eye switching to the object in his hand before shaking his head. "Why am I not surprised? Slaver to the core..." he spoke to himself before walking over to Hinata who was still out cold, pushing the gag in her mouth and fastening it behind her head.

Training Field

Hanabi had calmed down by now, the pain inside her head reduced enough for her to think clearly again. Naruto was still kneeling beside her, holding her tight for comfort, something she appreciated at that moment. However, the whole situation turned bad when Naruto, seeing that Hanabi was calmed down enoguh, started to speak.

"Hey, what did Spooky mean when he said Hinata-chan is listed as your property?" he asked her with suspicion in his voice, watching her reaction carefully. When Hanabi flinched at that question and tried to look away from Naruto and at the ground, was he growling. "That has something to do with the collar, right? Don't tell me she's a slave? I mean... after all we went through? Why?!" his voice was getting louder and anger sneaked into it, his eyes showing conflicting emotions between hate and worry.

Stiffening at his outburst was Hanabi fishing for words, trying to respond to him. "It's not... I mean... you see..." she started a few times, but was unable to form a coherent thought, tears forming inside her eyes. It was then that it bursted out of her, when the first tear started to drop. "It has nothing to do with what happened..." she started, her voice accompanied with sobs and sniffing. "She was way before that already... it was her decision... but she didn't knew what she got into back then... it's... just..." she was completely crying now. "And now... does Spooky... have her..."

Naruto was conflicted. On one side was he upset about the things the girl in his embrace was telling him. On the other side was his friend in pain and needed comfort. Still gently holding her was his voice not comforting at all, when he realized something. "Don't tell me... that the books I snatched you back then? It started there and you two needed... informations?"

Openly crying by now and unable to form any sort of words anymore was Hanabi simply nodding, trying to bury her face in Naruto's chest. He had many thoughts running through his head now, many questions he wanted to ask, but he knew that now wasn't a good time for it. One of his friends was crying in his arms, another one just got kidnapped and the three of them together where in the middle of a test they needed to pass. Taking a deep breath was he sighing, holding the girl a bit closer to his body. He made a decision at that moment and started to whisper soothing words into Hanabi's ear.

He wasn't sure how long he held Hanabi to his chest, but eventually was she running dry of tears and calmed down again, the sounds she made down to a quiet sobbing and sniffing. It was then that Naruto spoke to her again, the girl raising her head slightly to look at him with red teared eyes. "Listen, Hanabi-chan, I'm not sure what I should do and what to think of you right now." seeing the girl flinch at these words was he sighing, before he continued. "But this doesn't matter right now. The most important thing should be to find your sister and get her back, that we can complete this stupid test. Don't you think?"

Nodding slightly was Hanabi wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. "Right Naruto-kun..." she replied quietly. "We need to get her back... we can't leave her to her fate..."

A small smile crossed his face upon hearing Hanabi use the -kun suffix to his name for the first time, but he quickly discarded that thought. It wasn't important in that situation. "But I want you to promise me that you two will tell me what's going on once we are finished with this test. We are best friends and now teammates as well. You two should trust me, as much as I trust you. So, no secrets, okay?"

Again was Hanabi nodding, but refused to say something this time. Despite her mind being quite unstable right now did she know that they did wrong to Naruto. Said boy was smiling at her and pulled her again into a hug, before standing up. "Alright, Hanabi-chan. Think Spooky said the truth? Will you try out your Byakugan?"

Slowly getting up from the ground was Hanabi a bit unsure. "I don't know... it hurt quite a lot, but..." she sniffed one more time before nodding, determination slowly coming back to her. "I can at least try. Byakugan!" she shouted, concentrating her chakra into her eyes, before screaming suddenly when another stinging pain shot through them. Breathing deeply was she holding her forehead, shaking her head. "Sorry... no chance right now..."

"Hmm.. that's too bad. How are we supposed to find Hinata-chan when you aren't able to search for them? The forest is huge..." Naruto pondered aloud, before a slight grin entered his face. "Hah! That could work!" he shouted out, surprising the girl next to him. "You'll see. Shadow Clones!"

To say Hanabi was surprised might be an understatement, when suddenly there were not just one but ten Naruto's standing in front of her. All ten of them were grinning at her, before the original spoke up. "Okay guys, we need to find Hinata-chan to complete this test. Would say... each one in a direction, search for a huge tree to climb and then check the surroundings to see if you can find anything strange that might help us. After that come back here to report."

Confirming this order were the clones scrambling into different directions and disappearing into the forest, leaving a stunned Hanabi and the original Naruto behind. "What? I think that idea was good. I might not have my staff, but I learned this jutsu recently. So I'm using it now." he shrugged, grinning at the girl who couldn't help but to giggle slightly. "You should test if it's just your eyes he blocked, Hanabi-chan. Better test now while we wait than being sorry when we face Spooky."

"Right!" she nodded and channeled some chakra into her hands, trying to use her clan's Gentle Fist. It did work indeed, but she frowned. "Well, without the Byakugan is it nearly impossible for me to aim with it... Could seriously injure him like that...". Letting the chakra go was she going through a set of handsigns next, before placing her hands on the ground. "Earth Style: Stepping Stones." she said, watching some smaller stones rise from the ground. "Okay, it's just my eyes. Everything else seems to be working."

"That's good to know. That way will there at least be no surprises when we face him. Now we just need to wait for my clones to report back to us." he said smiling, determined to pass this test. It was a good first step to get Hanabi out of her current sorrow and he would make sure that it kept that way.

They didn't need to wait for too long before one clone after the other got back, most of them reporting that they couldn't find anything worth reporting. One of the last ones however had something to say. "Not sure if that has anything to say, considering everyone can take a stroll through the forest and all..." he trailed off when Hanabi glared at him. "Eh, yeah, right. I saw C walking through the forest. Over there, in that direction." he pointed behind him. "But as I said, not sure if that was random or not."

The real Naruto nodded at that information. "We don't have any other clue and need to start somewhere, right? Might as well check that direction. Alright, you'll lead the way. Once there do we do the same for scouting. Got that?". His clones all confirmed that order and the bulk marched off into the forest, together with the real Naruto and Hanabi.

"I'm going to come for you, sis. Just like last time." the girl said quietly to herself, reassuring her that she could reach and safe her sister, just like she did inside their dreams.

Hokage Office

Hiruzen Sarutobi was sitting at his desk, busy doing his paperwork, a daily chore he just hated. It might have been better than being out in the field, always risking to be killed, but it was boring as hell on some days. When the door to his office was slammed open, couldn't he help but frown, realizing that today it would be annoying instead of boring.

"Hiruzen!" one of the elders shouted at him, an angry expression on his face. "What have you done to Sasuke Uchiha? We demand that you tell us right now!"

Pulling out his pipe in all calmness was he inciting it and taking an inhale, before he answered. "Homura, I certainly don't know what you are talking about. I haven't done anything to the young Uchiha. In fact haven't I seen him in quite some while either."

"That is exactly the point." the other elder spoke up. "He isn't anywhere to be found and rumours tell that he failed the genin test. What have you done?"

"My dear Koharu, I haven't done anything. But if you want to talk about the genin tests, yes, I received reports that he hadn't passed. After that did he decide to work together with the traitor Mizuki to steal the Forbidden Scroll and ended up attacking both the traitor and our shinobi who came across the scene. From what I heard is he on the run since then, ANBU still trying to hunt him down. I do wonder, however... are your ears becoming bad that you haven't heard about that yet?" he explained totally calm, before raising an eyebrow at his former teammates at the end.

The eye of the male elder twitched at that statement, glaring openly at the Hokage. "Are you trying to imply something?" he asked with venom in his voice before the rest of the information registered with him. "And what the hell do you mean he is on the run? He is the last Uchiha we have inside our village. Don't you know that we need him to ensure our reputation?"

"Oh, I'm aware of that. But it seems he made a decision to not work with but against us, something we can't tolerate, even if it means loosing the last of this clan. But I got to thank you for bringing that topic up. He's on the run for too long already and the ANBU team following still haven't catched up to him. I should send another team to assist in the capture." he pondered aloud, writing down a note. "Can't have him go rogue on us, can we?"

"Capture?" the female elder asked with a raised eyebrow. "You want to scare him off even more after doing him wrong when you baned him from Academy? We need to handle this matter diplomatically. Approach him, offer him the demon's bitches as appology and then can we start over. From what I hear is one of them already registered as slave, so no real problems there."

"Why am I not surprised that you got that information but didn't know about the recent Uchiha stuff?" Hiruzen asked coldly, glaring at his former teammates. "I'm going to say that just once and you better listen carefully. Naruto is no demon, the Hyuga sisters aren't his bitches and Konoha won't be going back to the times when it was a blooming city of slavery. As long as I'm in charge won't I allow you to enslave any girl to hand them over to the last Uchiha who showed more than once that he isn't caring much about the village or our shinobi."

"Said the man that signed the papers declaring the heiress of the Hyuga clan a slave. Who enslaved her anyway?" Homura shot back, not wanting to back down.

"Your ears really are becoming deaf, do they? If you only heard half of the informations..." he couldn't help but chuckle to himself. "I think you wanted to leave now." he said after that, focusing back on his paperwork.

The elders however refused to go and were about to speak up again, when two ANBU suddenly appeared in front of them and pushing them out of the office. "This isn't over yet, Hiruzen." Koharu shouted back over her shoulder to the busy Hokage. "Now have you gone too far. This will have consequences!"

"I recall you two having said something similiar when I baned Sasuke Uchiha from the Academy. And unless my memory fails me did nothing happen afterwards, so..." he wasn't even looking up from his paperwork when he spoke, ignoring his former teammates on purpose. He didn't even need to look to know that both of them were glaring angrily at him before the ANBU had them out of sight.

Somewhere inside the forest adjacent to the training fields

They were searching for Hinata for quite some while by now, the method they used not really proving any succesful. But with Hanabi's Byakugan temporary sealed was there not much they could do since none of them was any good in tracking. To put it blandly were they not sure where exactly they were right now, if they were running in circles or where Kakashi and Hinata might be hiding. They were lost.

It was then that Naruto suddenly stopped to walk, getting the attention of Hanabi. "Is something wrong, Naruto?" she asked concerned, looking around them if there was anything she might have overseen. "Did you hear something?"

"I'm not sure, Hanabi-chan..." he shook his head. "It's hard to explain, but I think that one of my clones in that direction over there dispersed." he pointed vaguely into the forest, not really sure why he had that feeling.

"Huh, that's strange. How can you tell?" the girl wondered, looking thoughtful at her friend. "Well, let's wait for them to come back this time and see if one is missing, shall we?" she suggested, getting a confirming nod from Naruto.

It took around five minutes for the clones to return to them this time, again reporting that none of them found anything worth mentioning. No Kakashi, no Hinata, no clue on their whereabouts. "And where is the last?" Naruto asked confused, realizing that indeed one clone was missing.

"Dunno, boss." one of the clones replied. "Haven't seen him since the last meeting."

Naruto was thinking about it for a moment before speaking out loud. "That's strange. I had a feeling like he dispersed and now is he really missing... Alright, we are going to continue the search in the direction that clone was. I bet he stumbled into Spooky and got eliminated by him. We must be close."

"I hope so... we already need way too long for this stupid test..." Hanabi said quietly before the group marched off into the direction the missing clone was.

Another clone from another person was watching the whole scene and dispersed himself once the kids were gone. Kakashi, receiving the memories of his own shadow clone, looked up from his book and over to Hinata. Said girl woke up some time ago and had already stopped her tries to get free from the rope binding her hands above her head, simply standing there, waiting, for anything to happen. She couldn't do anything else anyway. "Seems like they won't find us anytime soon. They just walked away from us again..."

Hinata couldn't answer with the gag in her mouth, letting her head hang in utter defeat. She couldn't help but think about the irony of her current situation. A tied up slave being used as a bait in order to lure in her mistress and friends, having to wait patiently for anything to happen. Right now was she the lowest thing a slave could be and it took her 5 years from the day she became a slave up to this moment to understand that her life was quite good so far, despite her status. She would clearly thank Hanabi for all her freedoms, once this test was over.

"Okay, listen, if you promise to keep quiet will I take the gag out of your mouth and feed you something. After all does it look like we will be here for longer then I thought." Kakashi offered, getting a slight nod from Hinata. Food indeed sounded good to her right now.

Some minutes earlier, with the missing Shadow Clone

The clone was climbing up yet another tree, he lost track of the amount of trees he did climb by now. It was frustrating, knowing that his friend was relying on them to help her, but not being able to find her at all. Halfway up the tree was there the nest of a bird located on a branch, two little, most likely just hatched days ago, birds in it.

Smiling to himself was he stopping in his climb to watch them for a while, before he spoke up. "Waiting for your parents to bring you some food, huh? I never had any... and now is a friend waiting for me. But I need to find her first."

Both little birds tilted their heads, looking curious at the human in front of them, before starting to chirp. It sounded motivating to him and he nodded. "Yeah, you two are right, I should continue on. Can't let her waiting too long, can I? Well, see ya!" he grinned at the birds and gave a wave to them, starting to climb the rest of the way to the top of the tree. However, he wasn't getting too far away when he noticed a bigger bird in the same colour as the two little ones he just passed, flying and aiming straigthly for him.

"Oh, hey, how you doing?" he asked carefully, noticing the high speed the bird had. "See, I'm just passing through and said 'hi' to your kids. Everything is fine here, really!"

His tries to calm the bird down failed miserably and the bird tackled him beak first in the chest. The impact was strong enough for the clone to loose his grip on the tree and he fell the whole way down to the ground, dispersing due to the impact on it.

It was this moment that Naruto, just having learned the Shadow Clone technique and not aware of the complexity of it, got the feeling that he lost one clone, resulting in him and Hanabi walking in a completely wrong direction to look for Hinata.

Somewhere outside and a good two days of walking away from Konoha

"Is that him?" a female voice asked, watching a young boy with black hair run over a field out of her hiding spot.

"Yeah, without any doubt. He's the one we got the information about." a deep male voice answered, watching the boy the same.

"What do we know about him?" the woman asked, her eyes fixed on the boy.

"Again?" the man growled, looking at the woman. "You know as good as I that C was our spy and that C always got informations on anything before they were even relevant to us. All I can say is that he is clearly from Konoha, he got seen leaving the village, and that a team of ANBU is hunting him. Though I'm surprised that they are having trouble catching a child."

"I know, I know... it's just a... habit, you see?" the woman stated. "He was with us for so long, I'm just used to asking what we know. Anyway, we need information from within the village and this boy could give them to us. Still can't believe that they got our hunter we sent looking for C. Hell, we never really managed to bring anyone inside after that..." she shook her head, getting her mind back on the present. "Alright J, I want you to take care of the ANBU following the boy. I don't mind if you kill them, just give me enough time to have a nice talk with the kid."

"Understood. Though I guess no major terraforming of the surroundings to not draw too much attention?" a grin entered the mans face.

"Damn right. Can't let Konoha know that we are nearby. I'm sure that they got at least some information on us based on your encounter with the Copycat back then..." the woman replied nodding. When the man was about to leave was she talking up again. "Actually, yeah, kill them. The usual procedure."

"Alright. Kill, search them for information, check if any of them does have a bounty to claim. And if everything fails will you get enough time to talk, though the Maze will require a larger terraforming."

"Last resort." the woman simply said before waving him off, her eyes focused back on the boy. "Now what can you tell me about the village of Konoha?"

Forest near the Training Fields

The sun stood high in the sky and it was good past noon when Naruto and Hanabi finally spotted Hinata, still bound with her hands above her on the branch. It was clear that she must be in that position for basicly the whole day already cause the stiffness of her body was seen even from the distance. Taking a look around couldn't they spot Kakashi and decided to approve the bound girl, to get her free and take the equipment next to her, to finally move on with the test. After all did they still need to get the bells from their sensei.

Hinata hadn't seen her teammates yet because her eyes were closed and her head hanging. Having nothing better to do was she thinking about basicly everything that came to her mind, about everything that happened so far in her life, about her sister, her father, Naruto, the fox she learned about just the day before. Her mind even wandered back to the time they were captured by C and tried to compare that event with her current situation, bringing her to the conclusion that the current one was worse for the simply fact that she was all alone. Back then was she at least able to talk to her sister.

Hanabi and Naruto were nearing Hinata when suddenly a voice startled them, letting them stop in their movement. "5 hours." the voice said simply and calm. Turning their heads around were they seeing Kakashi leaning at a tree on the side, reading in his book. They were sure he wasn't there just moments ago. Hinata too reacted to the voice, opening her eyes and seeing that her teammates finally arrived.

"It took you two 5 hours to find us here and we weren't really hidden at all." Kakashi stated, still not looking up from his book. However, there was slight disappointment in his voice right now.

"Would have been way faster if you hadn't blocked my Byakugan..." Hanabi grumbled, glaring at her sensei.

"True." he stated plain and simple. When Hanabi was about to answer in anger did he continue, blocking her protest. "But fact is that there is a bounty in general on members from your clan. Together with how to identify you, your eyes really stand out, and the ability your eyes posses. There is also the information of your Gentle Fist style. So, every opponent you encounter out there might know about your abilities and, given the chance, would have done the same."

Her jaw dropped open and she was fishing for words to reply, but couldn't find any. It was Naruto who then spoke up. "Does that mean... that everyone might know about your skills as well? I mean... you got a bounty too on your head, right?"

"That is correct. The informations Ino showed you? Most of them are written down in any bingo book next to my picture. Just some of the nicknames aren't listed because they are village related. Anyway..." finally looking up from his book was he putting it away. "I'll tell you what happened to poor Hinata here while you were searching for her. I mean, it took you 5 hours, so..." he started dramatically before beginning to list some things. "She got raped, at least twice, and milked dry for any information she might have. Depending on who might have gotten their hands on her is she now on the way back either to their hideout or base of operations where she will either be broken and made her capturers slave or, if they know about the bounty, to be transferred to Kumo in order to claim it. Though, if she might be lucky will she only end as prisoner of war and maybe given back in a prisoner exchange somewhere in the future, hard to say. But even that wouldn't save her from future raping or enslavement."

Upon hearing that description on what happened to her, or to be more precise on what may have happened to her if she would have been captured by an enemy this morning, was Hinata paling, her whole body starting to shiver. Suddenly did she realize how good C treated them back then. And while she knew that the life of a shinobi was dangerous was it a completely new thing to her hearing it spoken out that blunt and calm by her own jonin sensei.

Both Hanabi and Naruto got slightly similiar expression on their faces, paired up with anger. On one side was there anger at Kakashi for speaking about these things in that calm manner. On the other side was there anger on themself for having needed that long to find Hinata. They knew that both of them weren't trackers but they thought the idea to use Naruto's clone for the searching wasn't that bad. Still needed way too long they realized.

"Alright, you may pick up your equipment, but Hinata stays were she is. You came too late to free her and she won't be able to support you now. At least try to fulfill your mission and get the bells from me." Kakashi stated, not leaving any room for discussions. Both kids grumbled to themselfs while picking up their stuff, both giving her an apologetic look.

"Hey, how are your eyes doing?" Naruto asked quietly, watching his friend with concern.

Hanabi tried to activate her Byakugan but failed again. There wasn't much pain left, but it still wasn't working. "No chance. But I don't care... I'll attack him without it." she replied quietly.

Both of them took fighting stances opposite of Kakashi, watching him carefully. He wasn't entering any stance himself, simply waiting for the kids to come at him. And they did.

Naruto was the first to charge at him, having the segments of his staff hanging loosely on the chains connecting them, holding it on both outer ends. When he got near his target was he letting one end slip from his hand and it snaking towards Kakashi, hoping to hit him by surprise. Due to the difference in heigth was the staff aiming for his stomach but seeing the attack coming was Kakashi blocking it with his arm. He had to admit that Naruto got more strength behind this attack than he thought and that the staff was of good quality, he felt a slight stinging pain from his block.

Realizing that his first try got blocked was Naruto quickly entering a fluid motion, spinning his body partially to the left side to bring the loose end of his staff into a movement to get another try on a hit. This time was Kakashi sidestepping that attack, too late realizing that Naruto wasn't done with the movement yet. When the loose end reached his side was he grabbing it, letting the other end of the staff slip from his other end, to bring yet another hit to Kakashi. He again blocked the attack with his arm, feeling another slight stinging pain, and watched Naruto completing his rotation and entering a fighting stance again, a slight grin on his face.

He wasn't sure why Naruto was grinning, but quickly understood when he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around was he seeing three Shadow Clones of his student running at him. Remembering that he saw him using them for the search was he not surprised that they weren't armed, after all did he create them without having any equipment with him. Though he wondered where the other 6 of his clones might be right now.

The clones were throwing themselfs at Kakashi, delivering kicks and punches on him which he easily dodged or blocked. That however gave the real Naruto the opening he was hoping for. Attaching the staff segments into a complete staff was he aiming to hit Kakashi in the back with it. The jonin however expected this attack and quickly jumped up to avoid the punch which ended hitting one of the clones, dispersing it instantly.

That was a moment Hanabi waited for. Going through a set of handsigns were her anger filled eyes focused on Kakashi, a smirk entering her face when she was done. "That's for my sis! Earth Style: Rain of Stones!" she shouted, manipulating lots of smaller stones laying around them to suddenly shoot at Kakashi, enhanced by her chakra. Being midair was there not much he could do to avoid that attack. When the first stones hit his body was there a cloud of smoke and a wooden log fell to the ground with Kakashi standing on a nearby branch.

"Substitution, huh?" Naruto asked, looking up at the jonin on the branch, a grin on his face as well. While Kakashi was wondering why his student was grinning at his escape from Hanabi's jutsu did he quickly came to a conclusion when two different Shadow Clones of Naruto landed in his back, having jumped down from the tree above him. The force of the impact was enough to throw him of the branch and he was falling down, right towards the real Naruto, who was waiting for him with his staff ready to strike.

While still falling was Kakashi speaking up to Naruto. "Nice use of the clones. I wonder where you have the rest of them hiding. Though, not good enough to beat me.". He started to go through a set of handsigns and Naruto's eyes went wide. Kakashi did it slow on purpose that Naruto had the chance to see the signs, having read reports that Naruto should be familiar with them. And by the reaction, the fear on his face, must he realized them for real. "Now, what are you gonna do against that? Fire Style: Fireball jutsu." he said, spitting a fireball in the direction of Naruto.

His reaction was fast, the segments of his staff detached in an instant and his staff in a spinning rotation in front of him, in order to block the attack. Hanabi was reacting quickly as well, having been in this exact same situation just two days before just with the difference that the fireball came from Sasuke and that Mizuki got her after defending her friend. She went through a series of handsigns herself and slammed her hands on the ground, shouting out "Earth Style: Earth Wall!", bringing an obstacle between Naruto and the fireball.

Just a split second later did Kakashi however finish the exact same handsigns, activating the same jutsu and pushing the earth wall back down into the ground, leaving the girl shocked with wide eyes. Naruto was gritting his teeth, hoping that his defense would work against this fireball, increasing the speed of the staff rotation a bit more. What none of them saw was that Kakashi already finished yet another set of signs, holding on a Water Style jutsu to release quickly in case Naruto was unable to defend himself. Having heard of the progress Naruto made with his staff did he just want to see how good he might be.

Naruto was cursing when the fireball hit his staff, the heat coming through to him. But to his own surprise did he manage to deflect the whole fire completely this time, not a single bit of it reaching his body. He was so happy about that outcome that he forgot being in a fight right now, being distracted for just a moment. But deciding to use that moment and to end it was Kakashi, now having reached the end of his fall, grabbing Naruto on his wrist and slamming him into the ground, leaving the boy dizzy. It was good enough to stop him from fighting for now.

Hanabi got enraged seeing that, rushing towards Kakashi with chakra already forming on her fingertips, willing to attack him with her Gentle Fist without seeing where she should or shouldn't hit, still unable to use her Byakugan. Knowing that the girl was acting on pure instinct and out of reason, and that she could kill him if she got to hit, was Kakashi getting serious now as well. In an instant did he disappear from her sight, appearing behind her and giving her a punch to the neck, knocking her out right away.

Deciding that his job was done for the moment walked he over to the nearest tree and made himself comfortable leaning against it. Throwing a smile towards the watching Hinata did he pull out his book and started reading again, waiting for his genin to recover.

Having watched the whole time, she couldn't do anything else anyway, were tears running down Hinata's cheeks. She just heard what happened to her and saw her teammates utterly beaten. If this were a real situation might all of them be dead or enslaved now. The tears however started at the thought that she didn't knew what would happen next.

When Hanabi woke up some time later, she didn't knew how long she was gone, was she blinking her eyes, looking around her. She saw Kakashi leaning at a tree, reading again. Naruto sat some distance away on the ground, grumbling to himself and Hinata, still bound to the branch, standing there all helpless. She was pushing herself up from the ground, actually getting the attention from Kakashi.

"You calmed down?" he asked, looking up from his book. "Or do I need to fear you trying to kill me again? Anyway, now that you are back with us can we talk about your performance."

"Yeah, whatever..." the girl grumbled quietly, her eyes falling on her sister. "Just... give me a moment, okay?" she asked, slowly walking towards her sister, getting confused looks by both Kakashi and Naruto, with Hinata watching her with worry in her eyes.

Her hand went into her pocket, searching for something, while still nearing her sister. "You know, sis, it's all your fault. If you hadn't let Spooky capture you..." she trailed off, pulling out one of the cards she got from C. Going through the signs she learned just the day before, hoping she would do it right and thinking of the thing she wanted to unseal, was she channeling her chakra into the card. "Card Tricks: Ace of Clubs." she said, surprising the boys that she was using a card from C, a small smokescreen suddenly engulfing her. When the smoke settled was she holding a whip, the cat-o-nine C showed the girls when explaining his cards, her eyes focused on Hinata.

Hinata's eyes got wide and she started to struggle, to get away from her sister, fearing what was to come. It was futile however, the bindings proving too strong. Naruto was the first to react, quickly jumping up from the ground and running between the girls. "What are you doing, Hanabi-chan? Are you crazy?"

"Out of my way, Naruto..." said girl spoke quietly, but with a sharpness to her voice. "It's her fault and she will pay the price for that." with these words was her arm snaking back, ready to strike.

However, she never got the chance for it because her arm got grabbed from behind. "Calm down, Hanabi. I know that you got the right to do that, but you can't blame your sister for the way I decided to create your test. Beside, do you really plan on striking with Naruto standing in the way?" there was disappointment in his voice and Naruto wasn't making any attempt to clear the way, willing to protect Hinata.

Naruto's expression changed to confusion when a grin entered Hanabi's face, a grin Kakashi was unable to see. When the girl next spoke up again was her voice totally sweet, the anger basicly gone completely. "You loose, Spooky."

These were the only words Hanabi said, confusing Kakashi as well. The sudden change of her tone, the thing she said. "What do you mean, I loose?"

"That you just lost." she repeated, raising her other arm and holding the bells, getting surprised looks from all around her. "You said we had all day and that we are allowed to use whatever method we could think of. And you just fell for my rouse."

Looking down his body did Kakashi quickly realize what the girl meant. He was standing right behind her, not caring for the bells as he wanted to avoid the girl attacking her sister. All the girl had to do was moving her arm and snatch the bells that were fastened at his belt. She tricked him. And that in a quite effective way he had to admit.

Sighing in defeat did he let go of Hanabi's arm, taking a step backwards. "Alright, fine, I admit my defeat. Guess you beat me fair on this. You pass.". He watched how smiles entered the faces of Naruto and Hanabi, deciding to crush their happyness. "Still, you needed 5 hours to track us down. If it were a real mission would Hinata's fate most likely be sealed by the enemy."

Seeing that his words had an effect on the genin, that they knew that he was right, did he nod in approval. After all, admitting that something went wrong was always a good start. "You should untie her. After all is she in that position for way too long already, don't you think?"

Hanabi simply nodded and walked over to her sister, untying her hands from the branch. The stiffness in Hinata's body made it difficult for her to stand without that support and she fell slightly forward, grabbing on her sister for new support. When Hanabi took the gag out of her sisters mouth was she greeted by smile that suddenly switch into an angry grimace.

Delivering a weak punch on her sisters chest was Hinata looking her right into the eyes. "That's for scaring me like hell with that whip... I really thought you would release your frustration on me..." she said quietly, slight fear inside her voice.

"Sorry sis..." Hanabi replied, not daring to look at her sister. "I would never hurt you... much..." the last word barely hearable, but Hinata's eyes went wide hearing it. "After we failed... twice... both in tracking and fighting Spooky... did I just want to pass his test in the end. That seemed... like a good idea to me."

Taking a deep breath was Hinata sighing. "You know... maybe we should sit down and talk about... new rules?" she offered her sister. "I mean... now that you got C's supplies?"

Simply nodding was Hanabi not replying at all. Naruto took the chance to speak up. "Uhm, yeah, about that... could you two please explain things to me? After all, Hanabi, you promised."

"Right, I think we all need to talk about a few things, don't we?" Kakashi said, drawing the attention of his genin team on himself. "So, let's talk things out, shall we?"

XXXXX

 _ **Authors Note:**_ Before someone is going to point that one out: I'm aware that I kinda sabotaged my own story by first taking their tools away just to let them use these for the fight against Kakashi in the end. Made the whole thing kinda pointless - beside of the mental stress it provided for Naruto and Hanabi. Plus it was an idea on my mind for quite some time to take Hinata out of the bell test that way, somehow, to give Naruto the final informations to grasp the situation. I mean...

Fine, that was totally evil from me and I'm a bitch. And it somehow turned out like none of the characters looked too good within this chapter for different reasons. Realized that myself - though it wasn't exactly intended.  
I think I need a happy/funny chapter next to distract myself a little. Got there an idea for one... well, basicly only workable as an Omake I guess. A bonus chapter that won't have any effect on the story progress (would need to change a few more things to write that one - things that totally shouldn't be changed on a permanent basis). Maybe even posting it inside a new story (like "Tale of Two Sisters - Outtakes" or something)? Not sure. Will think about that, whether to write the next chapter or an Omake next. Also thought about re-writing the prologue and first two or three chapters to get them on par with my current development in writing. But the time needed for that...

Something will end up being written and you'll get to read it - that's the only thing counting, right? And as usual, feel free to hit me up for whatever reason you have. Am always willing to take my time answering your questions or ideas (or critics or opinions or... you get the point, right?). ;-)


	24. Chapter 23 - I suppose

_**Author's Note:**_ Uhm... it was pointed out to me that I entered thin ice with the last chapter without really realizing it. Hanabi made a step or two into a direction I totally not want her to end up - and I just oversaw it while writing.  
But I also got someone who gave me another view on her actions with reasonable explanations why he's seeing it that way. So I suppose I haven't screwed it up entirely just yet.  
Maybe it's even something that most didn't really saw that bad at all, dunno. But when it was pointed out to me did my mind went crazy on what might happen if that path is walked down. And I really didn't like the scenarios that came up in my mind.

All I know right now is that I felt like steering in another direction right away, so... yeah... as you might see, once you start this chapter, was I working on some emergency measures to start on correcting my mistake. It will take time, but it's clearly something I won't be overseeing again.

Anyway, really need to get the tensions down and the emotions calm now - next chapter will officially start the Wave arc!  
More story progress on the original timeline (maybe), less tensions (I hope) but most of all, outside of the cramped Konoha (that somehow has training grounds big enough for them to search five hours for Kakashi and Hinata... *coughs* but if you consider the Forest of the Death being big enough for a five day chunin exam? *shrugs*).

Hope you'll enjoy this chapter. It is a more heavy one, again...  
Should really consider writing the funny Omake one soon for a change *thinks*

XXXXX

 **Confidential - only for the Hokage's eyes - Confidential - to be treated as top secret - Confidential**  
 **C's Report: Hanabi Hyuga**

"Yo boss! I got bad news regarding the mental state of the little one. I'm suggesting that the following lines shouldn't be read by anyone else as long as we don't know what to do or how it might effect the girl. I'm serious here, you know?

See, the girl visited me the other day. Tell ya, she was kinda pissed at me. I mean, can't blame her after all the things she had to endure because of me, right? Anyway... I had some things I wanted to tell her and she told me something that... I don't really know how to phrase it... that... surprised me? Confused me? Maybe even scared me? Not sure. Alright, you see, the events with the creep on the day of the genin tests?

I know that you too are in contact with the Shinigami, the Death God... Don't worry, I'm not having any details on the way you are in touch or anything, I just know it, okay? See, the girl, the little one... she said that it's still there, still haunting her. That's a new one for me. Am working with Black Jack for years and it always was either kill or pass, but never did anyone mention something like that to me, that Black Jack did stuck around...

Really don't know what to do with this information. Just wanted to inform you, boss. Not sure if your knowledge about or mutual friend is deeper than mine or not... or if you are able to figure out what this might or might not mean for the girl... Only thought you should be informed about it. So, yeah..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of Two Sisters - Chapter 23: I suppose...**

Kakashi leant against a tree, watching his genin team, studying the different expression they wore. Naruto sat on a tree stump nearby, holding Hinata in his arms close to him. He was watching Hanabi wary after what just happened. His mind had problems to grasp the fact that she was about to attack her own sister with a whip. That is, if she really planned to do so, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that Hinata was completely scared by her sister just moments ago.

Said girl was snuggling close to Naruto, burying her face in his chest. While none was able to see her face was Naruto able to tell that her whole body was tense and that she slightly shivered. She seemed to be as surprised about her sister as Naruto was. He really had problems to understand why Hanabi would act that way towards her own sister. But they were about to talk things out, weren't they? He would get his answers now, just like she promised.

Hanabi, sitting cross-legged some distance away on the grass wasn't looking at anybody in particular, her head hanging. She wasn't sure how she felt right now. On one side did she trick Kakashi into lowering his guard to snatch away the bells, completing the task he had given them. On the other side however...

"Okay, I'm going to say it once and I want all of you to remember it well. It is not acceptable to treat your teammates the way I just saw." Kakashi spoke up, his visible eye focused on Hanabi. "Yes, you own a slave, that is a fact I can't decline. And I'm more than aware what that means and that you got all rights to treat her however you want too. But..."

Flinching at the tune in his voice was Hanabi carefully raising her head, looking at Kakashi who watched her with a cold expression. She gulped before he continued. "Beside of being your slave is Hinata even more things you might have forgotten just now. She is also a human being, a shinobi of Konoha, your teammate and most importantly your sister. And the way you were about to act towards her is not acceptable for most of these things."

She wasn't able to hold the look on Kakashi and turned her head to the side, looking away from everyone gathered. "I... didn't meant to..." she started, before shaking her head, starting over. "It was... frustrating. We weren't able to find her... you... I... I just wanted to pass your test..."

"And you were willing to engage against both your teammates just to achieve this. Now think about it clearly and tell me why I am disappointed by your actions." Kakashi replied neutrally, waiting for the girl to reply.

To the surprise of everyone was the next person to speak up Hinata, raising her head from Naruto's chest to look at Kakashi. "But... you can't really blame her, can you? I mean..." there was a small blush entering her face. "You kinda forced it upon her, didn't you? You created this test basicly impossible for them to pass at all. None of us is a tracker, so how should they have found us in time? And after they finally found us did you decline me to help them against you. I don't even think we would have had a chance with all three of us, so how should the two of them pass the test?"

Kakashi shook his head at that. "You don't get my point, do you, Hinata? Your sister was willing to hurt her own teammates and her own sister as well, just to achieve the goal of the test. And that is something I can't tolerate."

"Yeah, haven't you seen the look in her eyes when she stood in front of you?" Naruto asked the girl he was holding. "That was totally scary... I tell you, she was serious!"

Hanabi was shrinking down, trying to hide herself upon hearing the opinions of everyone around her. She wasn't sure herself anymore if the way she finished the test was that good of an idea. However, what Hinata said next surprised her even more. "I trust her." she said simply, getting the looks of everyone. "I mean, yes, she is changing and all, I realized that myself. And yes, I was afraid as hell, but... you know what she went through, right? And as long as she isn't over it... am I unable to blame her."

"Sis..." Hanabi spoke up qietly, watching her sister with uncertanity written across her face. That was a side of her she hadn't seen in a long time, a side she nearly forgot existed. A Hinata that would stand up to defend herself and the ones close to her. That realization increased the guilt she was feeling deep inside her heart.

"That might be the case and I'm glad to see that you trust her, but her actions were still unacceptable. It was the exact same reason why Sasuke hadn't passed the genin test. Because he was willing to hurt and kill a classmate just because he stood in his way. And even after being banned from the Academy for a year did nothing of his behavior change. That's why the teachers decided to let him fail." Kakashi explained, looking from one genin to the other.

"You mean... when he nearly killed me and C intercepted... that was the reason why he didn't pass?" Naruto asked in surprise, getting a confirming nod from Kakashi.

"To say it simple, yes. From what I understand were there other events as well after that, but it basicly started there." he answered Naruto's question before focusing back on Hanabi. "Now, do you want to say something?" his eyes shifting back to Hanabi, the girl flinching under the look.

"I... I'm..." she started, biting her lower lip. What could she say right now? An appology to her sister and friend for nearly attacking them? An appology to Kakashi for acting like a spoiled rotten little ass? The words of her father entered her mind at that moment and she let her head hang in defeat before quietly speaking up. "I need help..."

That statement left all of them speechless for a moment, silence entering their surroundings, before Hinata spoke up again. "Well... Ino was inside your mind already and tried, but..."

That got Kakashi's attention. "Ino? As in Ino Yamanaka? The heiress of the Yamanaka clan that basicly had no real training with her clan's jutsu under real conditions yet? Was she supervised during that action? Does Inoichi know about that?" there was a seriousness in his voice, paired with a slight worry.

"Uhm... I don't know about her father. But she was all alone when she did." Hinata answered truthfully.

"And I was wondering about why she looked so absent mindly when I stumbled into her team yesterday." he shook his head. "Did she at least tell something useful about what she found?"

Simply shrugging did Hinata shake her head no. "There wasn't really time for that. We don't know what she saw within Hanabi's or my mind."

"..." Kakashi looked at both girls for a moment, processing the informations he just got. "Alright, no more trying to fix these issues all alone. If Inoichi finds out about this will it most likely get ugly... You are aware that you probably ruined your friend for the future, right? At least do I doubt that the inside of both your minds is looking too friendly to a visitor..."

Both girls shrank down at that statement. Hinata wasn't too sure about her own mind, considering that all she ever saw from it was the room her nightmare took place in. Hanabi on the other side was well aware of the deathtrap located within her own mind. And to think that Ino entered it, all alone, without having any practice? That was a thought she don't wanted to bring to an end.

"So..." Naruto spoke up, trying to understand what was spoken. "We need to help Hanabi-chan get over her trauma in order to avoid her going berserk on her teammates, right? That's all nice and stuff, but... that doesn't explain anything about why Hinata-chan is her slave.". Crossing his arms over his chest was he looking at the girls. "I mean, you promised to tell and all."

"Actually... I would like to know that too." Kakashi agreed. "I got the information that this is the stand of things, but I never got any explanation to it. And I need to know if I want to work with you."

A slight blush entered Hinata's face and she looked towards her sister. Hanabi wasn't able to look back at Hinata, guilt still present inside her. All she did was give a simple nod and Hinata understood. "It happened five years ago." Hinata spoke up, getting the attention of the males. "And it's basicly my own fault I ended in this position. Though I didn't really knew what I got myself into back then..."

A good 15 minutes later was she finished explaining about the bet she made with Hanabi, about her clan's code of honor that required her to keep her promise, about how they learned what this actually meant to their lifes. And most importantly about the fact that she accepted the role she had choosen herself, that she was willing to stay with her sister for as long as she had to. The blush on her face had turned crimson by the time she finished. Not really surprising, had she just told the whole story to persons that didn't knew yet.

Kakashi was the first to break the silence, more mumbling to himself than the girls. "Now can I see why C is so obsessed with finding out about this story. He got a good instinct, that's for sure. Wonder how much he would pay to finally hear it?"

Both girls looked at him in disbelief, before anger entered the glares they sent him. "Don't you dare..." Hanabi hissed out, not too happy with the fact that Kakashi basicly had a way to blackmail them now if they wanted C to not learn about it.

"But... but..." Naruto spoke up, still sorting the informations out. "She was about to get violent on Hinata-chan. Even if she is allowed to, even if Hinata-chan is okay with that, what I doubt after seeing her that scared..." he shook his head. "That's all completely wrong!"

"I have to agree with you, Naruto." Kakashi said, nodding his head. "Even if we now know about the why, does it not change the fact that this kind of treatment between teammates is a no-go. You two wanted to create new rules, right?" his eye locked onto Hanabi. "Well, since you two are a part of my team now will I also add to these rules. Any problems with that?"

Knowing that she was in no position to decline that was Hanabi shaking her head. "No... I'm fine with that..."

"Good." Kakashi was smiling before he started right away. "First rule: no getting violent towards any of your teammates, no matter if on a mission or while being free, as long as you are part of my team. Especially as long as you are unstable because of your state of mind. Honestly, I can't really trust you in that matter as long as you aren't over your problems."

"I..." Hanabi started, before slowly nodding her head. "...suppose you are right. Agreed.". Looking towards Kakashi with a neutral expression was she thinking for a moment before adding. "Do you have an idea on how to help me already?"

"Will think of something." Kakashi shrugged at that. "Though maybe your way of trying wasn't that bad at all. Might talk to Inoichi to see if he can help out. Maybe together with his daughter under his guidance, since she already was inside."

Nodding again was Hanabi staying quiet, waiting for anyone to speak more. She really wasn't that eager to say too much right now, not after what happened that day. She hadn't have to wait long before Hinata adressed Kakashi. "Is that your only rule?" she asked curious.

"Actually, I'm thinking of a second one. See, I don't mind her ordering you around. After all, that's her right to do. But I want to make one thing clear. As long as we are officially doing something as a team are my orders absolute. I'm your jonin-sensei and you are my genin now." his focus changed back towards Hanabi. "I will not accept nor tolerate if you are trying to overwrite my orders or to push the orders I'm giving you on your sister. Am I clear?"

"Yes, you are. I'll accept your rules." said girl answered quietly, looking down at the ground. "Is that all?"

"It is, yes. I'll leave the more detailed stuff between you two to yourselfs. After all, you are together like that for five years now, right? I think I can trust you to come up with rules that aren't crazy or dangerous or contra to mine or..." he wanted to say more but got interrupted by Hinata.

"We understand. Thanks for your consideration, really. Hanabi-sama and I will come to an agreement, I'm sure about it." she gave a small smile towards Kakashi who looked back at her for a moment, before shrugging and pulling out his book. His job for the moment was done in his opinion, deciding to get back to reading.

Naruto was listening into the whole exchange of words and kept quiet so far. But now that they were done was he looking towards Hanabi, pondering how to approach the topic on his mind, still holding Hinata close to him. "Hey, Hanabi-chan?" he asked with uncertanity in his voice.

Looking over to her friend was Hanabi flinching slightly, seeing clear mistrust in his eyes, though she couldn't really blame him for that. "... yes Naruto?" she asked quietly.

"Would you mind if I... borrow your sister for the rest of the day?" he asked carefully, a slight sheepish grin entering his face.

That use of words got him the attention of everyone, Kakashi even looking up from his book and Hinata stiffening in his hold. "Uhm... guess not. Might be better if I get some distance to her for the rest of the day anyway."

Turning around to look at Naruto was Hinata's face showing slight worry. "You... want to borrow me?"

"What?" Naruto shrugged, giving her a wide smile. "From what I just learned about you two did it seem right to ask her."

His smile got even wider while Hinata was blushing again, looking away from Naruto. Not only had she just told him and her sensei that she really was a slave, no, what made it worse was that Naruto seriously asked her sister to borrow her. Like an object, an item, a piece of property... she made a grimace, knowing quite well that this was an accurate way to look at this situation. Still made it not any less embarassing to her.

Yamanaka House

Ino's mind was absent when she got home, not really paying any attention to her surroundings, her thoughts running wild. When she passed her mother in the hallway was she not even noticing her presence, just like she didn't reacted to her greeting, leaving a confused woman behind. Her feet led her into the kitchen where she snatched something to eat out of the fridge without really caring for it, placing it on the table and sitting down, crossing her arms over her chest. She let out a long sigh, trying to follow her thoughts, to somehow figuring out why she was bothered by the topic on her mind.

"You okay princess?" Inoichi asked, sitting at the table, having watched his daughter enter the room without paying any attention to him. He wasn't getting any reply however. "How was your first day with your team?" he tried again, hoping that Ino would somehow react. It was the first time that he saw his daughter in this state.

Slowly realizing that someone talked to her, and even slower figuring that she got asked a question, did it need some moments before she even reacted. "Huh? ..." she asked confused, looking up and blinking her eyes. Seeing her father was she shaking her head slowly, still processing what he asked her. "Okay I guess... Asuma-sensei is as lazy as Shikamaru though..." she said quietly, her mind still not really in the present.

It wasn't hard for Inoichi to figure that something was bothering his daughter. After all was he the clan head of the Yamanaka clan, the clan within Konoha that specialized in understanding how the mind works. And it must be something big to be precise, though it clearly wasn't the fact that her sensei was as lazy as her childhood friend. "Okay Ino, listen to me. I can see that something is on your mind. I don't need to be a Yamanaka to realize that right now. But I know that it is something big, judging by the way you are totally lost within your thoughts and spaced out. So, tell me what it is that is keeping you occupied?"

His look was a combination of sincerity and worry, seeing his daughter in this state. She was his only child after all. His very own princess, his treasure. He wasn't able to see his daughter in this state and just sit quietly there, doing nothing.

Not really reacting at first was Ino not sure what or how to answer. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to answer that question at all. When Inoichi was about to ask her again did she however decide to tell him. "You remember that the girls asked for my help the other day?" she started, her voice not firm at all, barely a whisper. Seeing her father nod did she continue. "Well... they asked me to enter Hinata-chans mind. To look if I could find the source of her nightmares she was having for years..."

Inoichi's eyes went wide hearing that. Not only was his daughter using their clan's jutsu without proper training and preparation, no, she had to do it on one of the four persons on which it was propably the most dangerous. He wanted to speak up already, but was beaten by his daughter, who continued. "And when I was back outside... did Hinata-chan ask if I could enter Hanabi-chans mind as well, telling me about things that would be troubling her..."

Make that two of the four persons... "And why haven't you asked me for advice? How often have I told you that entering someones mind could be dangerous? It's one thing to use the jutsu to posses a body, like it's intended, by surpressing the mind of the owner. But it's something completely different and way more dangerous to actually enter that mind..." he sighed, watching his daughter flinch at his words. She must have figured that out with hands-on experience. "Alright... what have you seen? What is it, that is bothering you? How terrible were the minds of your friends?"

Ino blinked her eyes once, twice, listening to the words of her father. "Yes, my friends... I... I wanted to help them. But..." she trailed off, her eyes not focused on anything anymore, loosing herself in her thoughts again.

Hitting the table with his fist brought his daughters attention back to him, her eyes wide open in shock. "Ino... I'm your father and I want to help you. But you need to tell me. Don't make me look into your mind, to search for the memories of these events. After all..."

These words were a bullseye, letting Ino totally snap out off her thoughts, focusing on her father. "Hell no! If you do that... Just no!" she glared at him. No way would she allow him to look into her mind and there, by accident, find out about all her secrets and most intimate thoughts.

"Glad we agree on that, princess." Inoichi gave her a weak smile. "Would you please be so kind and tell me now what you saw, what is bothering you because of that?"

She gave a slight nod before taking a deep breath, sorting the informations within her head for a moment before she started to tell. "In Hinata-chans mind have I met... well... Hinata-chan. Just... she was different... and it were three of them."

"That is actually quite common." Inoichi noted clinically, already starting to analyze the informations his daughter provided. "I suppose the Hinata's you met acted differently from the one you know, right? It's common that different aspects of a personality are seperated beings inside the mind."

"Uhm, yeah, well, I guess. The one was pretty... dominant. Though I haven't seen that side from Hinata-chan for years. The second seemed to be a total prankster. You know, kinda like Naruto. There was a glint in her eyes and a smirk on her face. The third was the one trapt within the nightmare... probably the real one, now that I think about it." she pondered aloud and touched her lower lip in thought. Seeing her father nod to these informations did she continue. "Well, the dominant one led me around... showed me all kind of... images from torture devices... and books that you too own..."

He didn't need to ask her which books she might be referring to. T&I got the informations about the Hyuga sisters, that they would know whom to contact should they ever pick up the officially registered slave. That they would know who is responsible for her actions. He figured that the girls must have at least a decent knowledge about that whole topic to even be able to actually get a slavery license and to register a slave, but the informations he was getting from his daughter now... "How the hell did they got their hands on these books? That... shouldn't be possible at all!" Inoichi exclaimed slightly upset.

Simply shrugging helpless was Ino shaking her head. "I have no idea. All I know is that she also threated to make me her pet and never let me go again... And after we reached the nightmare did she ask me to also enter the mind of Hanabi-chan, to help her, if I could..." she shivered, remembering the way Hinata's dominant side looked at her. Ino was sure that this side of Hinata would really make her threat true and keep her as pet, if she got the opportunity.

"I figured that their minds might be dangerous... but that is..." Inoichi shook his head. "Alright, fine... and how bad was the mind of Hanabi?"

"Dunno..." Ino stated neutraly. "I mean, I found her sitting on a clearing inside a forest. She was surrounded by... things I can only guess might be the problems Hinata was talking about. Trauma that are hunting her..." she shook her head. "A raging inferno... an icy mist filled with ropes... and a shadowy figure that was piercing my soul when it looked at me... she barely reacted to my presence and I wasn't able to talk to her much, even less help her..."

Considering all things he knew about the Hyuga sisters was he really expecting their minds to be places to avoid. But that really got beyong his imagination. "Okay, Ino, listen... I know that going into the mind of another person can be tough to handle. Especially if this mind is burdened with things like your friends went through. But you need to understand that, even if you feel like it all is real, these are just the minds of persons that aren't you. You need to learn to differ between yourself and others. I know it's hard because they are your friends..." he paused for a moment, looking at his daughter in thought. "If you want will I help you to train your mind to be able to realize that difference."

Ino was keeping silent for a long time, thinking over the words of her father, before slowly nodding. "Yes, please do... I... I'm not sure if I'm able to handle that experience without help..." she said quietly, bringing a smile on her fathers lips.

"Of course Ino. That's what your father is here for. To help you grow." the smile turned into an expression of consideration. "Though I do guess, by the sound of it, that your friend Hanabi could really need some help from us..."

Somewhere within the village

Naruto led Hinata to a small park at the outskirts of the village, not talking at all on the way. Knowing that, at least for now, Naruto was the one she had to listen to was she following him in silence as well. After everything that already happened this day was the last thing she wanted to bring Hanabi into any kind of trouble. It was a quiet park with no visitors at all right now, something she was thankful for.

Sitting down in the shadows of a tree was Naruto looking up to Hinata, giving her a warm smile. "No need to look that nervous. All I wanted was to get you away from Hanabi-chan for now and talk a little."

Slightly nodding was Hinata sitting down too, giving him a smile in return. "Thanks, I guess. But I can assure you that I'm fine, really."

He was looking back at her in thought, thinking her words over, before forming a question straight ahead. "Did she ever get violent against you?"

That question hit her by surprise. It was one she wasn't expecting and had to think about. Keeping silent for some moments did a small blush enter her face, when she remembered that she got a single spanking from Hanabi years ago, quite early after she became her slave. But that wasn't violent at all and she was way too embarassed to tell Naruto about that. "No, not once. As I said, I do trust her." she shook her head.

"I see..." Naruto nodded. "So maybe she was telling the truth when she said that was all a trick to get the bells, huh? But still... you have seen her eyes too, right? That was scary..."

"Yeah, I know..." Hinata admitted quietly. "As I also said, she is changing lately. I believe it's because of the things troubling her, so if we can help her might she get back to being her old and happy self. But even if not, she's still my sister. It will be alright."

"You know, you are way too kind for this cruel world, Hinata-chan." Naruto said smiling at her. "That's one of the reasons why I like you."

She couldn't help but let out a giggle at that statement. "Said the one who is always trying to see the good in and on everything."

"Hey! I'm just a positive person." he pouted for a moment. "Something I had to be with all this hate around me. Though I'm not sure what might have been if I hadn't met you two." his voice got quieter at the end, finally shaking his head to get these thoughts out of his head.

"And I'm just a kind person. So maybe are we both not suited for this world, but we still live in it, right? So let's just make the best out of it." a gentle smile entered her lips.

"Suppose you are right." Naruto nodded slowly. "So, we still have some hours of this day for ourselfs, right? What you wanna do?" there was a wide grin entering his face. For now did he hear enough, so he could go ahead and enjoy the time he got to spend with Hinata.

Hyuga Compound

When Hinata came home that evening, the first time all alone after their not too subtle outing the other day, was she glad that nobody stopped her or tried to approach her with the topic of the slavery. She was aware that most likely the whole clan knew by now, considering there were several clan members present when they had the loud discussion with their father and that rumours always spread fast. Having these things on her mind was she really thankful that nobody stopped her. After all, she wasn't too sure how she would or could react in a situation like that, when she was all alone.

Deciding that she should report to her sister that she was back home was she aiming straight for her sisters room, figuring that she would most likely be there. Once entering the room was she greeted by a sight she wasn't expecting. Hanabi was already laying in bed and sleeping, something that surprised Hinata. After all wasn't it too late yet. Sneaking closer to the bed in order to not wake her was she trying to get a better look on the girl. However, she wasn't prepared for the state her sister would be in.

Being close enough to get a good look on Hanabi's face was Hinata clearly seeing stained tears below the eyes and across the cheeks. Her sister had cried before finally falling asleep. She couldn't even remember the last time Hanabi cried, which meant a lot considering she basicly was always around her. But the evidence was in plain view, she had cried. Which meant that the events from the day, the things that happened during the test from Kakashi, were torturing her.

Hinata shook her head. 'I know that she acted in a bad way towards me today... and I'm sure she would have started to hit me if Spooky wouldn't had interfered just to get him to react. Naruto was right, her eyes really were scary... and she knows it herself. She is regretting it, isn't she?' she thought to herself while starting to undress and placing her clothes in a neat pile. 'I wonder if she is having a nightmare now? If it's emotional as bad as the other things...' a small smile entered her face before she slipped under the blanket to her sister, only wearing her underwear now. She wasn't caring about getting her pajamas, the only thing on her mind right now was to get close to her sister in hope of helping her with the nightmare. Just like they always did when they were younger, sneaking into the sisters bed to get some comfort.

Snuggling close at Hanabi's body was Hinata hugging her. She could tell that her sister was kinda stiff, but her breath seemed to be normal. Maybe she wasn't having any nightmare at all, or at least not yet? It wasn't taking too long for her to fall asleep as well.

Somewhere unknown - okay, basicly within Hinata's mind, but she doesn't know it  


Hinata found herself in a place she didn't recognized but that still felt somehow familiar to her. Looking around was she realizing that she stood in a deadend. Behind her was just a wall and in front of her was a straight corridor leading towards a door in the distance. She really couldn't help it, but somehow did she knew the architecture of the walls of the corridor. Starting to walk down towards the door was she trying to figure it out.

Already having walked down half of the way was she finally understanding why it looked so familiar to her. She was here before. Well, maybe not exactly in this corridor, but in this complex - or whatever it might be. It was the same architecture of the room she saw the last three years. The room she was trapt in whenever she had her nightmare. The room... So it must most likely be the inside of her mind she figured. And that thought scared her.

Ino hadn't told them yet what she saw inside any of their minds and from what Kakashi said that day was she worried how the inside of both their minds would look like. And the fact that she was inside her own mind right now, probably because she was sleeping, that much did she understand, really scared her. What if she would stumble upon the same things Ino saw? The things that seem to be on Ino's mind since then? Were the inside of their minds really that dangerous that they gave their friend a trauma with this action?

Her thoughts stopped when she finally reached the door, not knowing whether or not she actually wanted to open it. Taking a deep breath and gathering all her courage after a good five minutes was she moving her hand forward, placing it on the door handle. She took another deep breath before pushing the handle down and opening the door.

There was a short flash of light blinding her before her eyes got used to the difference in light. Looking around the room on the other side of the door was she noticing that it wasn't too big at all and had the same architecture as the corridor she just passed. On the opposite side of the room was another door, probably leading deeper into her mind she guessed. Finally did her eyes fell on the scene in the middle of the room that nearly managed to let her forget to breath.

In the middle of the room stood a round table with three chairs placed next to it, one of it on the side she would reach first. The other two chairs stood on the other side of the table and both of them were occupied. On one sat a girl that looked like... well, like Hinata herself she noticed. Just that the clothes she was wearing were far more aggressive than anything Hinata would wear herself if she could avoid it. They were way too revealing for her liking.

But this chair wasn't the one catching her attention. It was the last one on which another girl just like Hinata sat. Just... that she didn't really looked like Hinata. Okay, yes, she did somehow, but the cat ears and tail were something that looked totally wrong on her. Though it was a kinda cute sight she had to admit. The most disturbing thing however was the fourth person inside the room. Another girl, that somehow looked like Ino she noticed, knelt next to the cat-like girl, snuggling close to her leg while the cat-like girl gently stroked the hair of the girl beside her chair.

"Glad you could make it." a voice spoke up, totally startling the confused Hinata who wasn't expecting to hear someone talking right now. She blinked her eyes a few times, looking from one girl to the next, then to the last, before switching back to the first, before she finally realized that it was she herself who had spoken. Well, not exactly she herself, but the she that was sitting at the table, the one with the revealing clothes.

Blinking her eyes another few times was she focusing on said girl, before finally starting to speak herself as well. "You are... me. Right?" she asked carefully, eyeing the girl that spoke to her.

The sitting Hinata couldn't help but chuckle at that. "At least didn't you need as long as Ino over there to realize it. She doubted it even after I told her that I am you.". She was pointing towards the kneeling girl next to the cat-like Hinata while speaking.

So it really was Ino, wasn't she? But she couldn't be here, right? She left her mind and entered Hanabi's after that and also left that one as well. The confusion was written all over her face when she spoke again. "This... isn't Ino, is she? I mean, she can't be here anymore, right?"

Nodding in appreciation did the sitting one start to smile. "I knew that your brain would figure that out. After all, we are the same. It's just an illusion of Ino Kitty over there created to play with. Seems like she took a liking to her when she was visiting us."

The catgirl pouted at that statement. "You are no fun, Mistress. Why did you have to tell her? She looked so cute being all confused..."

"Kitty? Mistress?" the confusion just increased as Hinata tried to make sense out of the situation. It was then that another piece of information hit her. Both girls sitting there were wearing a collar. Or more precise the same collar as she herself did. Or didn't she? She raised her hand up to her neck to feel if she was wearing her collar and quickly confirmed that yes, she did.

"We are you, so why wouldn't we wear it?" the sitting one asked her with a smirk, having read her mind pretty easily right now. "Would you finally stop just standing there and take your seat? As I already said, I'm glad you could make it. You see, the three of us need to talk."

Simply nodding was Hinata finally moving forward into the room, sitting down on the chair that was offered to her. Looking from one to the other was she still trying to make sense out of all this. "So... you are me, right? But you somehow aren't at the same time... Who, or what, of me are you exactly?"

Mistress was throwing a grin towards Kitty. "I told you she would be smart enough to figure it all out.". The grin got delightful when Kitty flinched in defeat. Focusing back on Hinata was she starting to explain. "I am your dominant side and Kitty over there is your mischievous side. Though you managed to block us off pretty good with your little nightmare of yours... you somehow created a mental barrier around it that we just couldn't cross."

"I... did?" Hinata blinked in confusion before slowly nodding. "Fine... you are living inside my mind, so I believe you. What is it you want to talk about? Why am I here?"

Before Mistress was able to speak was she beaten by Kitty. "You just had a whole day with Naruto-kun and haven't done anything. That's sooo boring... no kisses, no touches, you didn't prank anyone... I liked you better before that stupid nightmare..." the catgirl pouted, giving Hinata a reproachful look.

"Now Kitty, behave. We already talked about it, that this isn't the core of the point we wanted to talk to her." Mistress stated flatly with a stern look towards Kitty.

Crossing her arms was the catgirl pouting. "Doesn't make it any less true..."

Hinata had problems to process the informations she was getting and let out a long sigh. "Okay, could you two please stop and just tell me why exactly I am here and what you want to talk to me about?"

"Sure. I mean, we could take ages for it and you would still wake up the next morning..." the dominant one trailed off before grinning. "But yeah, I should get to the point. To put it simple are we not happy with how things are right now. You blocked us off for nearly three years. But we are a part of you, it won't help if you try to deny that."

Hinata was opening her mouth to reply something, before she realized that she didn't knew what to say. Closing her mouth again was the dominant one shaking her head. "Okay, listen, we accept that you are you and that you are our main personality. But the both of us are part of your personality too and we want to take part of your, of our life. Like we did before that stupid nightmare."

Now that got Hinata's attention. "Wait... like before the nightmare? You mean.." she slowly remembered some events and her eyes went wide. "The ramen broth? Or... the bait I played for the paintbomb after Academy started?"

"Ah, yes, I remember these. Though, that was primary Kitty there." the dominant one pointed to the catgirl. "Though I do admit that I was involved in the ramen broth situation as well. What I personally miss is us talking back to Hanabi-sama. Like we did three years ago, in Naruto's apartment. Now that were good times."

Hearing about these events again after these years brought the memories quickly back to Hinata. "We were... arguing with each other... loudly... both of us were pretty angry..."

"Uhu, that's what I mean. See girl, just because we are the slave of Hanabi-sama doesn't mean that we have to accept everything she does. Common, be honest, if she had really start to whip you because of that stupid test Spooky put up... do you think that would have been fair? It wasn't our fault!" the voice of the dominant Hinata increased, slight anger slipping into it.

"I suppose it wouldn't..." Hinata answered quietly, feeling the anger spark inside her as well. Though it wasn't that surprising, considering that the girls in front of her actually are her as well.

"Of course it wouldn't! And that's where you have to talk back to her, to give her a piece of our mind!" she was glaring at the real Hinata now. "In a situation like that do you simply need to let me take the lead. Yes, Hanabi-sama owns us, but we still have rights of our own. If we disagree with her actions does she need to know. It's that simple!"

"And while we are at it..." Kitty piped in with a grin. "...could you give me the lead whenever we are around Naruto-kun. I mean... really, you are just boring the way you are right now. Hell, give me some time with Ino-chan and I'll make her our pet! She's just sooo cute." to emphatize her words was she petting the illusion of Ino, sitting next to her, on the head.

"Just ignore her." Mistress stated with a frown. "Though it's partially your fault for having read the pet book way too often. The idea is stucking with Kitty ever since."

"You surprised with that?" Kitty shot back without missing a beat. "Have you ever cared to actually look at me? How her mind created this side of her personality? Of course am I all for pets!" the catgirl giggled while Mistress rolled her eyes.

Hinata watched the two sides of her with disbelief written all over her face before shaking her head to get her thoughts clear again. "Okay, fine... can we get past the creepy stuff and focus on something else?" she asked, her voice surprisingly firm. When both girls gave her their attention did she continue. "Are there... more of you I should know about?"

Mistress was about to answer before stopping herself, putting a finger on her lower lip in thought. "Actually... I'm not too sure about it. I haven't seen anyone else around." she pondered aloud, looking over to Kitty. "You are the one exploring regulary. Ever met someone and forgotten to tell me?"

"Not at all." Kitty shrugged simply. "I mean, I wasn't everywhere yet, but I never stumbled upon another us. And nothing ever ended up in my traps. Would say it's just the three of us."

"And I suppose I'm going to see you two more often from now on?" Hinata asked carefully.

A wide grin entered the face of the dominant one. "Oh, you bet you will. Now that this mental barrier blocking us of is finally gone? We would be stupid to not take advantage of it.". Seeing the frown on Hinata's face was she starting to chuckle. "No need to worry, silly. We respect that you got first hands on our body. But we will let you know whenever we are not satisfied. Now..."

"...are we done talking and can enjoy ourselfs!" Kitty exclaimed happily, finishing the sentence for Mistress. Creating a deck of cards out of the air was she grinning back at Hinata. "So, how about we use the rest of the night to get to know each other better? Just some smalltalk and a good game of cards."

Seeing the nod from Hinata was the grin changing into a playful smirk and Kitty started to shuffle the cards. Waiting for her to deal them out was Mistress casually asking an innocent question. "So... Strip Poker or Bondage Poker?"

Hinata's head turned crimson red in an instant, looking at the dominant one in disbelief. It was then that she realized the problem she had: she sat at a table together with herself, meaning whatever was spoken was created by her own. 'Maybe I really shouldn't have read that many books about all these things...' she thought to herself, letting her head drop onto the table in defeat. There was no point in arguing with another part of her personality - though admitting that somewhere deep down she was a pervert or intrested in this kind of stuff was out of question for her as well...


	25. Chapter 24 - Wave ahoi!

_**Authors Note:**_ Just a quick one, promised. Not sure if Tazuna turned out okay. Kinda feels like I rushed him in some ways. Opinions? Any obvious points I might consider for corrections? After all will I need him for some chapters now.

All together a more funny chapter which was totally needed in my opinion.  
And sorry for the cliffhangar at the end, but... I'm not sure how long the demon brother scene will become and I want the fight in the same chapter as the scenes after the battle, so it just made sense to postpone it for next chapter (and it gave me an excuse to not yet write the fight at all - still one of my weak points in my opinion).

Enjoy!

XXXXX

 **C's Scouting Report: The Land of Wave**

"Alright boss, here's what I could dig out within this short amount of time I got. Already asked for a more detailed report on the circumstances there, but that will take some more. So, yeah, here's what I can tell you so far.

The land of Wave seems to be currently supressed by a thug named Gato. Before you want to ask, no, the name doesn't ring any bells with me. If he's part of the Organization must he have joined after I was forced to leave. If he is part of it at all that is. Might be an indepent person as well. That's one of the things my contacts are trying to figure out right now.

The same applies to the business this Gato is involved in. They are trying to get detailed information on it, but no promises here. All that seems to be sure is that he hired a lot of mercenaries and bandits to work for him to keep the civilians in check. Doesn't sound too professional to me, to be honest. Civilians themselfs are all together pretty poor and are barely having any supplies because his men are taking whatever they can get their hands on.

There are also information about a small group of wood- and stoneworkers trying to built a bridge to connect the land of Wave with the neighboring country to get trading routes started and get independent from their local supplies and with that hopefully loosening the grip this Gato guy has over them. But it seems like his men are sabotaging the building as often as they can, trying to not loose any influence.

Considering all informations I got does it sound like a random group of bandits trying to play important. If you plan on sending a team on a mission there would I say a C-rating will do. Low chunin or maybe even good genin with a decent sensei or something, dunno. No need to get all serious here and send a full team of jonin. That would be... too overpowered for these guys."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 24: Wave ahoi!**

"...and that's all I have to report in this matter." Kakashi finished his report, watching the Hokage sitting in front of him with a neutral expression.

Sarutobi was taking a deep breath from his pipe, thinking about everything that he was just informed about. "Okay, let me get this straight: you tested the genin team applied to you in a scenario which they were basicly unable to fulfill based on their skills and your high expectations, especially considering under the aspect that you rendered one of them not able to help her team at all, and still managed to get beaten by said team? And now do you want to finally keep a team and train it?"

"..." Kakashi was fishing for an answer and kept silent for some moments. "If you put it like that... does it sound like I'm the bad guy here." he finally spoke up, realizing that there was just no good answer he could give.

"From my point of view are you for sure. You just told me that you nearly managed to destroy the friendship between your genin. That you punished Hinata Hyuga for the choice she made years ago and left her tied up for hours. She's still a kunoichi of Konoha and tying up a slave is too much of a clichee anyway. I know that you participated within a war at their age at the rank of jonin, but we are living in peaceful times. And for these times are these three through nearly as much bad events as you were back then." Sarutobi explained with a calm voice, reading the change of expression on Kakashi's visible part of his face.

The change was just small, but it clearly showed a bit of guilt creeping up within the copycat. "Anyway, I'm worried about Hanabi Hyuga and the way she acted at the end of the test. Managed to forbid her getting violent against her teammates and she agreed, but if she isn't getting help might the problem just get worse.". He was simply ignoring the fact that he was being scolded by the village leader.

Sarutobi shook his head because of this bad habit from Kakashi before he continued. "From what I understand might it be worse already and we just don't know it yet..." the Hokage said quietly while nodding. "I would suggest to contact Inoichi once you are back."

"I came to the same conclusion that Inoichi might be able to help, considering that the events are most likely haunting her mind from what I understand." Kakashi agreed before shifting his body slightly, getting a bit more comfortable. "And what do you mean, 'when we are back'? Something I should know about?"

"Yes, yes indeed. We got a request for a mission in the land of Wave. It's a combination of an escort and bodyguard mission requested by a bridge builder currently visiting Konoha. C already submitted a first general report on the situation within the land and suggested it to be a C-rank mission for a good genin team. I'll give you the official assignment within the next two days. I don't think that his detailed report will be available by then, but we can only wait that amount of time before the bridge builder is leaving."

"Ah, I understand. And if everything works out will this help get their minds a bit cleared and away from their problems. Might also help them to be outside the village for once." Kakashi nodded in understanding. "Alright, I'll be seeing to their training til it's time for the mission." and with these words was Kakashi leaving the Hokage's office.

Hyuga Compound

Hanabi was the first to wake up the next morning. Laying in her bed without moving was she trying to recall what happened. Still feeling the dried tears on her cheeks did it come back to her: she cried herself to sleep last night. And that was because...

It was early in the morning, she was still tired, it was hard to think right now. She couldn't help but yawn and tried to rub her eyes, just to realize that it was hard for her to move her arm. That brought her to attention because her mind was present enough to know that this wasn't supposed to be the case. Opening her eyes was she trying to find out why she wasn't able to move her arm and it didn't need her long to realize the reason.

Next to her was Hinata laying in her bed. With all the movements of their bodies did the blanket move away over night, giving Hanabi a good look on her sister. She was snuggling close to her side, holding onto her arm tightly, only dressed in her underwear. It was actually the last point that primary registered within Hanabi's mind because she knew that Hinata always slept in her pajamas. This sight right now was simply alien to her.

Now that she was awake enough to actually think, and after seeing her sister next to her, was her mind finally remembering why she cried herself to sleep in the first place. The events of the day before comming back to her did she start to remember the test Kakashi had them go through, the hours she and Naruto needed to finally find him and Hinata. Guilt crawled back into her when her memories came to the point at which she was about to engage her sister with the whip, followed by the discussion they had afterwards.

Once she parted from her team, watching Naruto and her sister walk to whereever they went, was she heading home all by herself. She barely remembered seeing her father when she entered the house. Did he talk to her? She wasn't sure. She at least wasn't talking to him. Heading straight for her room was she... she was... raising her other arm, realizing that this one wasn't restricted in any way, did she finally rub her eyes. She entered her room, but what happened next? She started to think about the whole situation. But then? Did she do something else? She couldn't remember anything, so she must have been thinking about it, about her guilt, about the talkout the whole rest of the day. No wonder that she ended up crying herself to sleep.

A sudden movement at her side distracted her from her thoughts and her eyes fell on Hinata again, who was just snuggling even closer to her before opening her eyes. Seeing that Hanabi was awake as well did a small smile enter the olders sister face. "Morning Hanabi-sama." she mumbled out quietly before yawning. The dream she had - was it a dream? - having drained some of her energy, letting her feel kinda exhausted this morning.

Hanabi wasn't able to look her sister into the eyes. Not after the events of the day before, not after having endless time to think about it. "Why are you here?"

It was a simple question directed at Hinata. A simple but meaningful question. In Hanabi's opinion couldn't it be possible that her sister would get close to her from her own free will. Not after everything that happened. Hinata was blinking her eyes a few times in confusion, trying to understand what her sister, no, her mistress, just asked her. "Where should I be if not here?" she asked back, slight confusion within her voice. "Naruto-kun only borrowed me for the rest of the day, remember? So I came back home of course."

Shaking her head was Hanabi finally looking directly at her sister. "That's not what I meant... why are you here, with me, in my bed? Don't you hate me?" she asked quietly.

"I already sad that I trust you, silly." Hinata couldn't help but giggle at the look of disbelief her sister was giving her. "And I figured that you might have needed some comfort after yesterday. I wanted to be close to you, to help you."

"But... but..." Hanabi started, not sure what to say. What could she say? Why was her sister that kind-hearted to her, after she acted like an evil bitch towards her in return? She just couldn't understand it.

"Look..." Hinata rolled her eyes at the thought that she really needed to explain it to her sister. The one they said about that she was totally smart and which was able to enter Academy two years early because of that. "I was at your side all the time and I know what you went through. And we are in it together unless you let me go. You got official papers signed by the old man to prove it. And I accepted it, if you remember."

She waited for any reaction from Hanabi. For any indication that she was following the line of thought Hinata laid out in front of her. Seeing a slight nod was she continueing. "But from now on will I also tell you if I'm not happy, if I'm dissatisfied, if you are acting unfair. And for a start, whipping me because you got frustrated about Spooky is no fair move."

Sure, the whipping never happened, both girls knew that, but it was no surprise that Hinata was bringing it up. Hearing her sisters words was Hanabi letting her head hang. "I know, sis... and I'm really sorry. I... I just... wanted to..." she wasn't able to finish her sentence, a quiet sob leaving her body.

Hinata pulled her into a tight hug, a caring smile on her lips. "I know that. And I'm glad that you understand it as well. There are other ways to vent your anger and we will find them. But if you are trying something like that again, trying to punish me for things I'm not responsible for, will I defend myself." the tune in her voice shifted slightly, a touch of older-sister-authority in it and Hanabi clearly heard it.

There she was again, the Hinata that would stand up and defend herself and the ones close to her, if she needed to. A part of her Hanabi hadn't seen in years and for which she was glad that it still existed. "Right sis..." she said quietly. "I'll allow you to do that."

Hokage Office, two days later  


Kakashi was stopping in front of the door to take a look over his genin team. His genin team. A small smile crossed his face when he realized that he indeed decided to finally train a team. And than this special one on top of that. The one containing Naruto Uzumaki, feared for being unpredictable, or so he heard. Being honest did his behavior got a bit more rational over the last three years. It was because of his friendship to the Hyuga sisters he supposed. But still, Naruto was still having his moments of unpredictable actions, so nothing to worry about him.

And he had the Hyuga sisters. Hanabi and Hinata Hyuga, both daughters of the clan head, both heiresses to the clan. At least in theory. In reality however did they totally screw the order of heirs by the younger sister enslaving the older one. An action unheard of in history. It was indeed an intresting team and here they were, shortly before taking their very first mission. A C-rank mission, something no genin team would get as their first mission. But these genin were different. He knew it, the Hokage knew it, every jonin being involved with them in some way knew it. So a C-rank, one that got rated by the person that was able to somehow dig out every detail about everything, was acceptable to start with.

"Could you stop looking at us with this creepy smile, Spooky?" Hanabi spoke up, glaring at her sensei. "I mean, it's nice that you can teach us lots of things and all, but the fact that you are a pervert isn't helping."

The smile on Kakashi's face got even wider, letting Hanabi growl. He would never admit it, but he did that intentionally. If the girls were complaining about him being a pervert so be it, as long as they weren't using their brain capacities to fall back into thinking about the things troubling them. It was his short-term solution til they found a real one. "Said the girl that enslaved her own sister. What does that say about you then?"

"You know that it's not like that!" Hanabi shot back at him. "I'm not doing _these_ kind of things with her!"

"You do realize that I can hear you two, right?" Hinata asked sighing. "And would you please stop shouting out that I'm a slave? That's an information not everyone needs to know about.". A blush entered her face. She knew that at least half of the village knew by now because some members of her own clan let the information slip while being out drinking with their friends. That still didn't meant that she was comfortable with the fact of people knowing about it. It was one thing to accept it for herself, but a completely other thing if people judged her because of that.

Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it lightly. "Just ignore them, Hinata-chan. Like I did with with the villagers hate all these years."

"At least you aren't judging me, Naruto-kun." she replied quietly and gave him a thankful smile.

"If you are done flirting..." Kakashi said before turning around and knocking on the door to the office. It took some moments before he heard the sign to enter and opened it, leading his team inside.

The room had one occupant more than the kids expected. Standing in front of the Hokage's desk was an older man with grey hair and beard, his arms crossed over his chest. "Wait a moment. Is that the team you want to give me as an escort?" said man asked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, seriously, just look at them. The girl there can't be older as my nephew and the boy is looking like a clown with this orange clothing he's wearing. You must be kidding." And the first impression they had from said man wasn't a good one.

"I happen to like this colour, you know?" Naruto shot back, glaring at the grey haird older man. "Got a problem with that?"

"Don't be upset, Naruto-kun." Hinata tried to calm him down, taking his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze while smiling at him. "Aren't you ignoring these things normally? So why not do it right now too?"

"They can insult me all the way they want, I don't care. But it's not acceptable for them to insult the things I like, Hinata-chan." he explained to the girl, suddenly ignoring everyone else in the room.

The visitor was shaking his head. "Just great... a brat, a clown and a loovey-doovey couple... am I getting a circus here?"

"Actually..." Kakashi started, avoiding to look at the girls. "You can even add a slave and her mistress to that list. So, yes, a circus it might be. But a useful one, nonetheless."

"Spooky!" both Hanabi and Hinata shouted at him at the same time, giving him looks that promised painful things to him.

That kinda did the trick in finally shutting the soon-to-be client up, his jaw slightly opened in disbelief. Pretending to not having heard the conversation that just took place was Sarutobi speaking up. "Ah, Kakashi, I'm glad to see that you are on time for a change. Do I guess right that finally caring for a team of genin is somehow effecting your sense of responsibility?"

"Well, you see..." he started to answer, a smile entering his face while he scratched the back of his head with one hand.

"As if..." Hanabi snorted, giving another glare in Kakashi's direction. "He was running late again and we actually had to look for him and drag him here. Found him in the bookstore, picking up yet another of these stupid books he likes to read."

"What can I say? Today came a new release, so I had to get it. Still..." his smile turned towards Hanabi. "Shall we talk about the difference between reading it and living it... again?"

Mumbling some unidentifyable words with a voice that was dripping with vemon was Hanabi crossing her arms over her chest.

"I see." the Hokage nodded slowly, mustering every person present in his office. "Well, you are here because I want to assign you your first mission as team 7. This is Tazuna, a carpenter from the land of Waves requesting an escort back to the country and in addition to that a guard mission for him and his workers while they are finishing the construction of a bridge. The land is currently surpressed by a thug named Gato who hired mercenaries and bandits to control the civilians. It's a C-ranked mission, but I'm sure that you will be able to handle it quite good."

"A C-rank?" Naruto asked, excitement in his voice.

"Guarding him?" Hanabi let out a sigh, glaring at the man now known as Tazuna.

"The land of Waves?" Hinata asked curiously, intrested in learning more about another country.

"Their first mission...?" Tazuna asked warily, carefully eyeing the kids before looking back at the Hokage.

"They are quite capable of handling it, don't worry. Or is there anything you want to add to the report our scouts provided?" Sarutobi asked back, looking at the client.

"..." Tazuna kept silent for some moments, thinking it over before slowly shaking his head. "No, nothing to add. It's describing the situation within my country precisely."

"Very well." Kakashi finally said, the smile still on his face. "Please give us two hours for travel preparations, Tazuna. My name is Kakashi and I will be the leader of your escort and guard team. Meet us at the maingate and we can leave in said time."

"Fine, in two hours at the maingate. I just hope you really are better than you look..." Tazuna replied, a slight tune of worry within in his voice. He flinched under the glare of the three kids, noticing that pissing them off might not be the best idea if they were the ones to guard him.

Konoha Maingate, two hours later

"You know sis, I get that you took your jacket along in case the weather changes. But do you really need to wear it already during bright sunshine? I still don't like when you are wearing it..." Hanabi tried for the at least fifth time once they left the compound, looking at her sister who was wearing her jacket and a backpack over her usual clothes.

"And I told you that I'm not having enough space in my backpack to put it in there." Hinata rolled her eyes. "If you want me to put it away, why aren't you carrying the jacket for me?"

Shaking her head did Hanabi finally resign. "Don't have any space left myself..." she said quietly. She was dressed with loose black baggy pants and because of the good weather wearing a simple grey t-shirt to go with it. Her headband was still bound around her waist like a belt, something she got used to after mirroring Ino in the first place.

"Alright, I trust that you got everything you need?" Kakashi asked, looking at his gathered genin.

"And what about you? Stockpiled your books for the trip?" Naruto asked with sarcasm, grinning at his sensei.

His jaw dropped and the grin faded when Kakashi pulled out five books, showing them to him. "Yup, I'm good for the trip."

"...was supposed to be a joke..." could be quietly heard from Naruto, who did a quick check of his stuff anyway. His backpack was containing all his supplies, his staff was attached to the holder on his upper leg and on his other leg was his kunai pouch. He had everything with him he could think of.

"I still can't believe I'm getting a team here that is fresh out of the Academy without any real experience..." Tazuna was shaking his head before putting up a small smile. "But that's something I won't be able to change now, right? So let's try to get along, shall we?"

"Call me a brat again and we won't." Hanabi said with a sweet voice back at him, but the glare she was giving him told a completely different story.

"Don't take her too serious. She's just in a bad mood because of recent events. She'll calm down and be the happy girl she always was eventually." Kakashi said to Tazuna with a smile, while placing his hand on Hanabi's shoulder.

Nodding his head in understanding was Tazuna accepting Kakashi's explanation, not seeing that the jonin actually put pressure into his hold to give Hanabi a silent warning. The girl wasn't flinching to the pain, she wasn't showing any sign that she actually felt it, but she surely did. And she knew that she should restrain herself, being under close surveillance by Kakashi because of the events from the bell test.

The group started their travel after double-checking one last time that they got everything they needed with them. They travelled a good 2 hours in peace and with a bit of smalltalk going on, mainly Hinata asking Tazuna all kind of things about the land of Waves. The two were walking in the lead with Hanabi being slightly behind them and Kakashi in the rear. Naruto, slowing down to fall back to Kakashi, started a conversation with him that quickly got Hanabi's attention who poked her sister in the back to get her attention as well, that they could hear into the talk.

"Say, Spooky, we will have free time as well on this mission, right? I mean, we aren't going to be on guard duty each and every day for the full amount of time?" he asked curiously, looking up at the jonin.

"Huh? Well, of course not. The workers on the bridge will walk home to their families to eat and sleep and stuff. Or have you ever seen someone working for 24 hours straight?" Kakashi replied to the boy, not exactly sure what kind of information he was trying to get.

"So, if we aren't guarding the workers at the bridge at all times... will there be enough free time for you to teach us new things, right?" there was a happy grin entering Naruto's face once he realized that they would still be able to get training done.

"Well, basicly yes. Unless Tazuna here is fearing an attack even at his home. In that case would we be on guard duty the whole time." his eye wandered to the man in question, a slightly hopeful glint in it. Kakashi was after all a lazy person who was thankful for any excuse to not do his work properly.

Stroking his beard in thought was Tazuna thinking about this statement before slowly shaking his head. "I don't think that this will be necessary. So far haven't they tried to attack any of us away from the construction side. And you will be staying at my home while you are there, meaning that should be enough protection anyway."

"Great! So we will have enough free time for you to teach us all kind of cool stuff!" Naruto cheered happily after getting the information he was looking for.

Looking from Naruto to the girls and back to Naruto was Kakashi starting to sweat, thinking about all the work he would have to do. "Well, it does depend. Naruto, you finally able to use elemental chakra? Hanabi, how are your chakra control exercises going along? And Hinata, any progress with the task I gave you in regard to your Water nature chakra?"

He couldn't help but grin slightly when he saw all three of his genin starting to grumble, knowing quite well that none of them could have made any real progress the last two days. "Thought as much. And unless any of you will make any kind of progress will I focus on the basics in your training. Without them is everything in addition out of the question anyway."

"But chakra control exercises are boring..." Hanabi pouted, feeling like she got the worst individual task of them.

"So?" Kakashi asked, looking at her. "You want to end up in the hospital with chakra exhaustion again because you use way too much chakra for your Earth Style jutsu? There is just no point in using them if you are rendered helpless after just two jutsu. That's why you got to do chakra control is priority."

Hanabi was blushing slightly at his statement. It was embarassing to her that he actually knew about the incident that happened after the sparring match between her and her sister when they were testing their elemental progress. She kept silent, hoping that he wouldn't go into any more details.

"You know that this isn't fair, right?" Naruto asked. "Why are you even giving me the task to learn to use elemental chakra if I'm having no affinity at all? Will you ever teach me anything at all? It's just unrealistic!"

"See, Naruto, I think that it isn't natural and that there must be a way for you. And unless we find a medic that is able to tell us the reason for that is the only way for you to try and try and try til you might be able to use elements even without an affinity." Kakashi explained.

"And how am I supposed to figure out if I'm on a good way or not? I don't even know what kind of indications would tell me about any progress..." Naruto complained, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I know... well, I'll train you a bit in taijutsu if we got spare time from the basics. You need to be able to fight even if you loose your staff." it was a weak offer and Kakashi knew it.

"Whatever..." Naruto grumbled, his good mood from before gone completely.

Kakashi's eye wandered to Hinata, looking at the girl who looked back at him. After a moment was she speaking up. "What? Expecting me to complain as well? I understand that it makes sense to learn to sense water sources with my Water chakra. And that the next step would be to use the water that exist inside the air and ground. It's just hard, you know?" she simply shrugged before activating her Byakugan to do a quick check of the surroundings. "It's just that there isn't any water source nearby that I could actually try to sense at all."

"True enough." Kakashi simply stated before motioning for the group to start walking again. None of them had realized that they actually stopped to discuss about things. Not even Tazuna who listened intrested, trying to learn more about the shinobi he got from the Hokage as his guards.

Konoha, inside a bar

It was afternoon and a small group of jonin was enjoying the rest of the day with some good drinks and a card game. The only woman in the group was grinning like mad. "You know, I thought it would be more fun having you two at the same table for some gambling. Suppose I was wrong.". Looking from one blonde man to the next blonde man was her disappointment clearly visible.

"Heh, thought a mindreader would actually be a challenge for me, Anko?" the one blonde man asked her back, dealing the next set of cards.

"Yup, that's what I thought, C." Anko nodded in confirmation. "I mean, we all know that you are cheating us but we still play with you. Just thought that it would go different with him around." she pointed to the other blonde man, her co-worker.

"Excuse me if I'm not willing to use my skills in a situation like that." said blonde man answered, looking back at Anko with a serious look. "All I want is to enjoy myself here with some friends and some good drinks. Especially after my princess told me about the thing she did for the Hyuga girls."

"Can totally understand that. Sure, she was clueless, but entering their minds was a bold move from Ino." C shook his head. "Even asked them if they were crazy when they told me they asked her to do that in the first place."

Inoichi let his head hang and nodded slightly. "Crazy? From what she told me are both minds a living nightmare for an outsider. And she entered them completely unprepared."

"So?" the last person at the table asked, taking a deep inhale from his cigarette. "She does know that the sisters are friends with C here and into slavery, right? Should have known that it might get ugly for her.". Getting looks of disbelief from C and Anko was Asuma raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"How can you be so emotionless about that?" Inoichi asked his friend, not able to believe what he just heared. "My princess is on your team, remember? You are as responsible as I am to help her through this. Haven't you seen her state during your training?"

Asuma was simply shrugging at that. "Honestly? Thought she would have finally given up trying to get the boys to train and join them in the lazyness."

Anko bursted out into laughter, holding her stomach. "That's just great. You are even too lazy to realize that your genin has a problem. Can't wait to tell the old man!"

"Have fun." he stated calmly. "Pops knew what to expect when he put me in charge of a genin team."

Shaking his head was C dealing another set of cards, pondering if he should do the thing he had on his mind right now or not. There was one major point that stood for doing it: Asuma's genin would learn to survive out there. Against it stood the fact that Anko would most likely kill him for that. Oh well... "Yo, Asuma, how about we play with high stakes now?"

Anko knew the tune C's voice had and glared at him. "Don't you dare, you..." she hissed out, the air thickening around them.

"Hmm?" Asuma looked at C questionly. "What are you proposing?"

"If you are willing to bet that you will start to teach your genin like you should am I willing to bet the one thing in my possession everyone seems to want." he stated cryptically and pulled out a joker card with the image of black panties on it.

Inoichi palmed his face. "Really now?" he asked with a sigh. "Starting to use it as bait for other things than informations now?"

"What works, works." his answer was short and simple. Quickly moving his head to the side was he avoiding the kunai Anko threw at him, totally ignoring the woman next to him. "So, what you say?"

"You think I got a use for Anko's underwear?" Asuma asked surprised, lighting up another cigarette. "Though, might be intresting to have something Anko wants to have and be able to get a favor from her. Sure, why not." he agreed and pulled out a piece of paper, quickly writing a few words stating that he will start to train his genin properly and signed it.

"You are dead and you know it..." Anko said quietly, picking up her cards. "Alright, bring it C. I'll win this time and will have something at hand against both of you.". Giving another glare at C left a groan her lips and she pulled out a strangely formed kunai and placed it on the table. "I'm in."

Raising an eyebrow was Inoichi looking at his co-worker. "You got that kunai? And here I was wondering where it disappered to when it vanished from T&I... Should have known as much. Fine, I'm in as well.". He thought about his bet for a moment before nodding towards C. "The book you are intrested in? That's my bet."

Hearing that put a grin on C's face. "Heh, I knew I simply had to nag you about it til you break. Alright, let's do it!"

Just moments later and after everyone took new cards were all of them grinning at each other, everyone sure he got the best poker hand to beat the others and win the good stuff laying on the table. They knew that C was cheating again, they actually expected it, but they also knew that their friend got a twisted sense of humour at times and wouldn't play that dirty if stakes were that high.

And it was true. He did manipulate the cards given out, but in a way none of them would have expected. What he didn't knew however was the fact that this round wouldn't have any winner at all. Everything was planned out, sure, but he never got a chance to finish his plan.

"What the..." Asuma asked in surprise, looking at his cards in disbelief when one of it suddenly started to glow in a dim blue. Sure, the cards belonged to C and it shouldn't surprise him that they were special, but still...

Anko's and Inoichi's eyes went wide as well. Not because of the glowing card. They saw that already from time to time being around C quite often at T&I. They didn't knew what it meant, but they knew the glowing at least. The reason why they were shocked was the reaction of C.

"The seven of spades..." he mumbled quietly to himself. "Damned, that report is urgent, gotta need to pick it up..." he continued, still ignoring his friends. Finally throwing his cards face down on the table and with that giving up was he raising from his chair. "Gotta go. That's an urgent one for the boss man. Laters."

Giving his friends a quick wave was he leaving the bar, leaving a confused group of people behind. It took them some time to get out of their stupor and Inoichi was the first to speak. "Hey, Anko, do you have any idea how exactly he's getting all these reports of his? I mean, he got his network, I get that, but..."

She shook her head. "Nope. He's never speaking about this. He's pretty serious in keeping his methods and connections a secret. But it's scary that he's able to dig out every detail about everything, isn't it?"

"Well, he's on our side, so why do we care?" Asuma asked with a shrug. "Anyway, with him out are the bets mine. Straight flush, 6 to 10 of spades.". A grin entered his face when he layed his cards out in front of him. However, he wasn't expecting his friends to groan out simultanous, raising an eyebrow. "What?" Both Inoichi and Anko laid out their own cards. Anko was having a straight flush, 6 to 10 of diamonds. Inoichi got the same as well, just with hearts.

"If he's having a royal straight flush in clubs am I going to kill him. That would be so typical for him to play us just like that..." Anko groaned out, snatching the cards laying on the table. "He's so dead..."

She threw the cards on the table, showing indeed the royal straight flush she was expecting. It was Inoichi who said the next words that were important. "Well, he left so he didn't won. But we got a draw at hand, so nobody looses their stuff. Only question remaining is: how are we going to split Anko's panties between us?"

He didn't need to be a mind reader to expect and see the kunai coming his way. Dodging it with ease was he watching into Anko's anger filled eyes that clearly told him that she would keep C's bet all to herself and not split it up between the three of them.

On the road leading towards the land of Waves

They already walked for hours and the sun was slowly setting down, the group discussing about how far they would want to go today and where to rest for the night. It was Tazuna's suggestion that everyone agreed on. Slightly an hour away, further down the road, was a small hotel located for travelers. They could get something to eat and a room for the night there. So another hour of walking and killing time.

Hinata was quiet by now, having asked basicly everything about the land of Waves already. That and she got a light scolding from Kakashi to not bother their client too much. It was because of that and the fact that the rest of the group was also walking in silence that she tried focusing on her chakra, trying to sense any source of water nearby. It wasn't much, but it was at least more than Naruto or Hanabi could do because their training needed more than just concentration.

"Huh..." Hinata suddenly spoke up, getting the attention of everyone else while looking at Kakashi herself. "I think I can sense something. I'm not too sure because it's not much I can sense, but... I think there is a small source of water ahead of us."

"A small source?" Kakashi pondered aloud, thinking it over. "Well, I know the area around here and there is no natural source at least. No river, no pond, nothing. Why aren't you checking it out with your Byakugan? Am intrested in what it is that you might sense right now."

Nodding in agreement was Hinata activating her Byakugan, scanning the road and area further ahead of them. She kept silent for a minute, looking around carefully before deactivating her Byakugan again. The group actually stopped while she was looking around, waiting for what she would find. "That's strange. All I could see was a small puddle on the road ahead, maybe in a kilometer distance away." she shrugged slightly.

"A puddle?" Kakashi asked, raising his eyebrow. "Well, it's kinda impressive that you are able to sense that on this distance. That's something it usually takes a master of the Water Style to do, considering the little amount of water it may contain."

Shaking her head was Hinata looking back at him in doubt. "But there is no way that I have improved that much that quick. I just started to even figure out how to sense water."

"Isn't it strange that there is a puddle at all?" Hanabi asked in thought, getting the looks of everyone, ranging from confusion to questioning. "What? Haven't you realized that we got bright sunshine all day?"

"Someone must have been clumsy and dropped a larger supply of water for it to form the puddle." Naruto said with a slight grin. "I saw stuff like that happen before."

"A puddle is a puddle." Tazuna stated, shaking his head. "I don't see why you all get so serious about a puddle on the road. There will be a reason why it's there, but is this really that important for us to waste time standing around?"

"He got a point there." Kakashi agreed and nodded. "Alright, let's get going again. We won't find out about it anyway and we still have an hour of walking before we reach the hotel." and with that was the group on the move again.

A bit later was the group reaching the point of the road on which the puddle was located. Hinata was the first to spot it, having seen it before with her Byakugan and made a headstart to it to inspect it further. Curious as she was did she want to know why she was able to sense it with her chakra. Kneeling down next to it was she looking into the bit of water, noticing that it was indeed not much at all. She could clearly see the ground and guessed that it would be maybe enough water to fill five glasses and not more.

When the group got a bit closer, not slowing down in their movements at all, was Kakashi speaking up. "We won't be stopping for a puddle and we won't be waiting for you to play around with it. So once we pass should you be moving again."

"Yeah, yeah, okay. I'm just curious." she answered, closing her eyes and concentrating again on her chakra. It was the same result, she was feeling the same she felt before. The only difference was that it was right in front of her instead of farther away.

"Really now, sis, are you a child, playing with a puddle like that?" Hanabi couldn't help but mock her when they reached her. "Now get going, we don't have all day."

"I'm trying to understand how sensing water with Water affine chakra is working. That's not playing around." she grumbled quietly but stood up to join the group anyway. Being left behind wasn't something she was too eager to be.

They barely passed the puddle and were having it in their backs, being just a few meters away from it, when there was a loud splash hearable behind them. There wasn't even enough time for them to turn around to see what was happening, when two figures quickly jumped out of it, charging straight at Kakashi. It all happened within just a second and the first thing the kids and Tazuna saw was that Kakashi was laying on the ground, a chain wrapped around him that was somehow connected to some strange looking metal gloves both of the assailants were wearing, using the chain effectively as a weapon between them.

Both of them were wearing plain grey clothes and a scratched Kiri headband. One was standing next to Kakashi, while the other one, in addition wearing a black cloak over his clothes, was sitting atop of him. They tackled him with enough force to throw him a few meters in front of the group, letting them all see what was happening. Kakashi himself somehow managed to turn around in time before he got tackled, but he hadn't had any time to defend himself, and was currently laying on his back, trying to get out of the chain binding him up. He knew that he hadn't much time for it, if the vicious look on the face of the one sitting atop him was any indicator.

The one sitting on him put on a grin and rammed the front of his glove, that also had some claw-like attachments, straight into his torso and started to sing in a twisted way. "I stab your heart, make sure you die, I stick a needle in your eye!" and with his last words was he raising his glove again to let it fall down on Kakashi's face.

The one standing was watching the spectacle before speaking up. "You know, brother, you don't have a needle." he pondered aloud, ignoring the kids and old man watching the whole scene in shock.

Raising his hand again and looking at his bloody claw-like attachment was he shrugging it off. "Works as good, if not better, this way, brother."

"Where did you get that creepy song anyway? Sounded weird to me." the first one spoke again, eyeing his brother carefully.

"Huh? Heard the slave using it the other day while playing with that bunny of hers." the second replied, checking if his victim was indeed dead before sinking his glove on the head a second time just to be sure.

"The slave? But isn't he all against fighting and killing? No way that he used something like that." the first raised an eyebrow at his brother.

"Yeah, that's what she's saying all the time. But she isn't hesitating to kill without warning when the demon orders her to do."

"True, it's quite scary how effective he is in killing. Am glad that we don't need to fight him."

"You know that the slave is a girl, right?" the sitting one suddenly changed the topic, looking up at his brother.

"No way. The demon and the slave are always saying that it's a boy. And the demon must know, right? It's his slave, after all." the standing one replied, glaring at his brother.

It was that moment, when the two started to discuss with each other about the gender of a slave, that Naruto finally broke out of his shock. "What the hell?!" he shouted out, looking at the scene in disbelief. Not just did he saw his sensei dying right now, no, the ones responsible were just discussing about something like nothing happened.

Turning their heads towards the nuissance did both brothers start to grin. The sitting one finally standing up was he watching the rest of the group. "Well, brother, would say we can discuss that later. Right now do we have to deal with the rest of them and our target."

Nodding to that was the one with plain clothing agreeing. "Sounds good to me. Let's get rid of the target and the boy and let's play with the girls afterwards."

"I like your way of thinking, brother." the one with black cloak nodded as well. "Alright, let's do it that way!"

And with that were they charging at the group, aiming for Naruto this time, the chain between them both ready to catch their next victim. The four of them watching with wide eyes at the two who just easily killed Kakashi, a veteran ninja of one war, known and feared widely for his skills. And now did they need to fight these two, if they don't wanted to end in a similiar way...


	26. Chapter 25 - Wave ahead

**C's Scouting Report: The Land of Wave, more detailed**

"Yo boss, we got some big problems at hand. I got the detailed informations you requested and my earlier evaluation of the situation was a bit off if I look at the new stuff.

First of all, that Gato guy seems to be big in smuggling and on the black market. Though there is one information that makes it worse: he has his fingers inside the slavery business as well. And if he's active in that branch are chances high that he is also involved with the Organization; or that he will get their attention soon. They don't really like competition and if they appear on the scene will it most likely become ugly.

In addition to that does it seem like he also hired some missing nins along with all the mercenaries and thugs. It's still just rumours, but the information came from different sources inside Gato's ranks. No real informations on their identities, but I would take that information for granted. So we have to deal with at least B-ranked shinobi if not higher should you decide to send a team there.

Any mission in that direction should be considered A-rank based on the new informations. Keep that in mind if you want to send someone."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 25: Wave ahead**

The first one to react was Hanabi, her doing guided by anger welling up inside her. All her trauma, all her emotions, all her fears being combined and channeled into one big spike of anger. She wouldn't let her teammates down, not now, not after she had things to make up to them for acting the way she did within the last days. Her body just acted on instinct, her mind being blank. And that was good right now, because if she would think about the situation would she quickly come to the realiziation that there wasn't much she could do and that her following action would be most likely useless.

There was barely any time for a reaction, considering that their assailants were just some meters away and already charging, after they managed to get rid of Kakashi in a surprise attack. But it was enough time for Hanabi, because the set of signs she used were some she created herself, a jutsu that she was using for at least two years now. "Earth Style: Stepping Stones!" she shouted, pushing her hands on the ground. The action itself was basicly futile and the effect not much at all. Dozens of small raisings in the earth appeared between the group and the demon brothers charging at them.

One of the brothers was simply smirking at that joke the little girl just did. That and she just did confirm his suspicion that they were facing bloody beginners that wouldn't be any challenge at all. Knowing that this job was a simple one was he looking forward to the reward he and his brother would claim - if the girls would survive the battle at all. He was aware that his brother often lost control of his emotions in battle and simply slaugthered everything in the surrounding. He easily avoided the stones and was nearing in on his targets.

Said brother however ended up having a slight problem with dodging the obstacles that were thrown in his way. He hit one of it with his feet and started to stumble. It wasn't enough to let him fall, it simply slowed him down just a little. That however proved to be enough of an effect to buy the kids a few more seconds, because the chain connecting the two brothers was holding the first back for a short moment when the second lost a bit of speed.

Naruto was finally starting to act as well, quickly drawing his staff and bringing it in front of him. And it was just in time that he could block the chain aiming for him a short distance away from his body, only to realize, now seeing it close, that it was covered in spikes. If they would manage to wrap him with it, just like they did Kakashi, would it be his end...

Hinata, out of her shock as well, did have the same conclusion as Naruto after seeing the chain up close now. She also saw that the two brothers were already starting to circle around Naruto in order to wrap him up, to make his block futile. "Mistress!" she shouted out loud without thinking, activating her Byakugan at the same moment and moved forward, chakra already channeling in her hands, to stop one of the brothers from encircling her teammate.

Hanabi understood what her sister was trying to do and what she had to do in order to help. She too activated her Byakugan and moved forward to intercept the second brother from their move, in order to safe Naruto from the fate these two were trying to push on him.

Both girls were quickly in front of their respective opponent, both already using their Gentle Fist taijutsu style to attack, aiming for the closest bodypart they could hit, anything to stop them from finishing the attack. Though they never got a chance to hit when both of the brothers suddenly made a jump backwards, avoiding the incoming strikes. Taking a deep breath were the three kids focusing themselfs, preparing them for the next attack that was about to come. The brothers however decided that it was about time for another discussion.

"Hey, these eyes look familiar. Isn't that the same that this Ao guy stole from Konoha during the war?" it was the one with the cloak talking first.

"Yeah, thought the same. Something about being able to see everything, right? But they are just kids. They won't be any kind of problem to us." the other replied. "Just remember that they will most likely see us if we try a sneak attack or something."

"Think she would have seen us if she had looked at us in the puddle with these eyes active?"

"Not sure, brother. But she didn't and we managed to get that jonin. The rest is just simple practice for us." both of them nodded to each other and focused back on the group they were attacking, just to realize that something looked different to before.

When the two brothers started to discuss with each other was Hinata moving a bit closer to Naruto, starting to whisper. "Hey, Naruto-kun, think you can do the same you did against Spooky? You know, these clones you can use? They managed to hit him, right?"

Nodding in reply was he smiling back at her. "Yeah, they were. That's a great idea, Hinata-chan. Alright, Tazuna will stay behind us while we are busy with these guys." he spoke quietly as well and made a single hand sign. "Shadow Clone jutsu." he said, creating four similiar looking clones, all holding his staff as well. "Heh, that's cool. Didn't knew that." he smirked. "Alright, one of you guards Tazuna. The rest of you, tag-teams!"

And that was the image the two brothers saw when they looked back at the group. The carpenter in the back with the boy standing protective in front of him. Just that there were even more boys. Right in front of them were another two of the same boy standing side by side, both holding a staff directed at them. And slightly to the left and right of these two boys were the two girls, each with one of the boys on their side as well.

"Did I miss something?" the one with the cloak asked, blinking his eyes.

"Clones, most likely." the other shrugged. "So they do know a trick or two. Won't be changing anything of the outcome anyway."

"True. We just need to figure out which boy is the real one and focus on him and the girls. We can ignore the clones, right?"

"Right!" and with that were the brothers charging again. Though they changed their tactic and were both targeting Hanabi now, aiming for one person they knew is real. That and in addition to it was she most likely the weakest of the group, meaning a good target at all. She might have these annoying eyes, but beside of that? Her Earth Style jutsu was a joke to them, if anything.

Realizing that they were targeting Hanabi did Hinata and her clone start moving as well, running a slight curve to somehow get into the back of the brothers. Naruto and his clone, aiming for the flank of the brothers, started moving as well. Now that they had a superior number were they determined to not loose. And in order to achieve that, noticing that she had to act, was Hanabi doing another set of handsigns. "Earth Style: Rain of Stones!" she shouted, launching several small projectiles at the charging brothers while her own clone stood defensive in front of her.

The brothers were raising their metal gloves in front of their faces to block off the projectiles. The one without cloak was grinning at his brother. "How cute, she's throwing stones at us. Such a weakling. Ready?"

Getting a nod from his brother were they closing in, covering the last distance pretty quickly, to appear in front of the guarding clone who was holding his staff to block off the incoming claw-like gloves. He somehow managed to get both claws with his staff, stopping them for a short moment which Hanabi used to make some steps backwards, when the chain connected between the gloves snaked forward due to the momentum and hit him straight in the center, effectively dispersing him.

"You were right, brother, clones. But who might be the real one?" the one with cloak asked, already making a step forward to get another punch in the direction of Hanabi.

The second was seeing the two Naruto's appearing at his flank and Hinata with her clone disappearing out of the corner of his eyes. "Most likely the one guarding the old man. Ignore the boys, but keep an eye on the other girl. She's coming from behind." he answered, also making a step forward to attack Hanabi.

Said girl started to panick, quickly pulling kunai out of her pouch straped around her leg, throwing them at the two brothers who blocked them with their gloves as well. It was that moment that the two Naruto's finally reached the first brother in a distance they could strike at them. The clone was aiming at the stomach while the real Naruto aimed for the knee, both bringing in their staffs with high speed. True to his words was the brother ignoring them which he regretting quickly, when both staffs found their targets, letting him stumble and gasp for air, loosing most of his momentum.

The other was looking at his brother in surprise, being distracted long enough for Hanabi to dodge his punch and bring in a single strike on his outstreched arm. She wasn't able to aim right in this situation, only sending a numb tingling through the arm of her target which the brother ignored. But she managed to hit, which gave her a little confidence back. That bit of confidence turned into a small smile when she saw her sister together with the clone appearing behind the same brother. The clone managed to land a direct hit on the shoulder, letting the brother flinch in pain, while Hinata had more time to aim and landed a good hit at the back of her target with her Gentle Fist. The point she hit should at least block some of his chakra off, even though she wasn't sure if they actually had used it at all just yet.

What she wasn't expecting was the reaction of the cloak wearing brother she just hit. Turning around to her was the chain connecting the two brothers' gloves snapping loose in the middle, the part connected to his glove snaking out at her and the clone due to the rotating momentum. The clone had no chance in escaping and got halfed by the chain right away before dispersing. Having seen the movement with her Byakugan was Hinata trying to jump backwards and barely made it out of the range of the chain - though not without it hitting her upper leg, cutting through the clothes and leaving a bloody wound on it.

She let out a scream of pain and moved further away from the one with cloak, pressing one hand on the fresh wound, her face clearly showing the pain she was feeling. Hearing the scream was Naruto also backing away and soon was thankful for that decision, when the other brother was spinning in his direction as well, just a bit later compared to the first after cutting the connection, and with this avoiding the snaking chain completely together with his clone.

"That bitch did something to my body. It's somehow harder to move." the one with cloak was complaining to his brother, an evil glare in his eyes that got directed on Hinata.

"Yeah, and the clones are somehow able to do damage to use as well... quite annoying." the other agreed, finally having enough air back in his lung, looking at Naruto and the still existing clone.

"You know, they are working together quite good as well..." the first said in thought, not speaking out the question on his mind. A question, that his brother had heard way too often for his liking.

"Yeah, yeah, I don't mind if you kill them. We'll find other girls to play with. Some that won't be fighting back that much." he let out a short sigh but quickly focused back on the task at hand.

None of the kids did any attack while the brothers were talking. Hinata because she wasn't able to move too quickly with the wound she just recevied. Naruto and Hanabi because they were throwing concerned looks at Hinata. All three of them understood that they wouldn't stand a chance against these two if they were fighting all by themselfs and had to work as a team if they wanted to survive. Something that was going to happen with a sinking possibility with every passing second...

"I'll get revenge on the girls, you take the boy." the one with cloak stated.

Nodding was the other charging at Naruto, starting a flurry of punches on him and his clone. He was on the defensive, he knew that, but for some reason was he able to block most of the attacks together with his remaining clone and dodge some of them, all considered doing a quite good job in not being killed just yet.

"Sis, Needles!" Hanabi shouted, focusing on their opponent while going through the signs for her jutsu again. Nodding slightly was Hinata doing signs herself, focusing on the only water source in the surrounding she knew of: the puddle the two brothers used to hide and ambush them from. "Earth Style: Rain of Stones!" "Water Style: Water Needles!" the girls shouted at the same time, sending their projectiles at him from two different directions.

Standing next to Tazuna was the last clone making a grimace, watching the fight happening. "I know that I'm supposed to guard you..." he spoke up, not even looking at the carpenter standing behind him.

Tazuna let out a deep sigh. "Yeah, I know, but you can't just stand here and watch, right? And if they loose am I as dead as well because you alone wouldn't be able to defend me against them both together." he spoke calmly, even calmer than he thought he could be in such a situation.

The clone nodded. "I wasn't going to say it that bluntly, but..."

"Just go." the carpenter agreed. "There is no point in watching them die and wait for it to happen to us as well. Help them."

And with these words was the last clone making a head start for the battle, hoping to be of some kind of help to his friends.

Being assaulted from multiple directions was the brother with cloak having slight problems in blocking and dodging all the stones and water projectiles coming his was. And whenever he tried to charge at one girl was the other landing multiple hits in his back, letting him growl in frustration. It wasn't helping either that Hanabi placed some of her annoying Stepping Stones all around and below him, nor that Hinata managed to somehow reduce his mobility with her hit before, making it even harder for him to not get hit. Said girl was smirking at her idea of using that jutsu in addition, but was breathing hard on the other side because of the intense use of chakra. She already deactivated her Byakugan to reduce the chakra output, but keeping the Rain of Stones active for so long and also grasping the ones passing to shoot them right back at her target would leave her exhausted in no time.

Kakashi did warn her and she now understood why he wanted her to do chakra control excersises. The last time she exhausted herself was she creating four walls at the same time, completly depleting her system in an instant. And she was close to that point right now, that much could she tell.

Hinata wasn't doing too good either, having deactivated her Byakugan as well. All she did was to keep up the Water Needles, though she could clearly tell that she was nearly out of water to use. And the pain coming from her leg wasn't helping, nearly breaking her focus. She only had two options left: either giving up and submitting to the pain, submitting to her defeat, something she had to do anyway once there wasn't any water left she could use, or she could try to use even more chakra, to create even more projectiles using the water in the ground and air. Something she hadn't tried yet. Something Kakashi wanted to teach her once she was able to sense water sources. Something that would require more concentration than she most likely could bring up with the pain distracting her.

All the two girls could hope for was that Naruto would somehow find a way to finish his opponent and come to their help before any of them wouldn't be able to keep the attacks running anymore. Or before the brother being the victim of their projectiles would decide that he could do more than just charging and punching. No shinobi was limited to only taijutsu and even specialists had at least some kind of ninjutsu at hand. Maybe not strong ones, maybe just small ones for supporting their taijutsu, but they had some. So if he would think of using one would they be done as well.

Naruto was getting frustrated. Not only was he constantly on the defensive, no, he also had received some hits from the claws by now, bleeding from several cuts on his arms and legs. His clone had dispersed a while ago, having taken a fatal hit in order to protect Naruto, and his movements were slowing down bit by bit because of his wounds and the exhaustion creeping up his body. He was desperate to not loose, desperate to protect the girls, but the frustration was about to win the upper hand and he knew that he would be done the moment that would happen.

The only positive point he could see was the fact that his assailant was also slowing down slightly, having trouble to keep the flurry of attacks up and running, not having expected that the boy would be able to defend himself that good, to need that long to kill him. Anger was the main emotion of the brother right now, totally clouding his sight and letting him forget his surroundings. All he was caring for was the boy in front of him, the boy he wanted to see dead.

It was this situation when something happened that none of them might have expected. A sudden scream of pain could be heard that also stopped the one brother's attacks on Naruto for a short moment. Looking up at the source of the scream was Naruto realizing that he might have gotten a chance here, it was the brother in front of him who let out that scream. His face was pain filled and showing signs of disbelief, not knowing why he was feeling that intense stinging pain in his back. Taking a quick look past his opponent was Naruto seeing his last clone running in his direction, holding a kunai in his right hand and the staff loosely in his left, having thrown all remaining kunai from his pouch at the back of the brother attacking the real.

Deciding that this was his only chance, different emotions running wild within his body, was the real Naruto starting an attack of his own. Releasing his anger, his frustration, his determination and what not was he focusing on his staff, channeling chakra into it out of pure instinct, bringing the end of it quickly at the chest in front of him in a stabbing motion, landing a few direct hits on it in quick succesion. The brother let out another pain-filled scream, looking down at his chest in disbelief. Naruto was sporting the same look of disbelief, when smoke raised from the points he had hit, the clothing smoldering away, the skin below it showing signs of being burned.

Before any of the two could understand what just happened was the clone finally reaching Naruto and the brother, bringing his staff down hard on his head, finishing this battle for now. He wasn't sure if it just knocked him out or if it killed him, but he wasn't thinking about that for now. "Hey boss, don't just stand there, we need to help the girls!" the clone shouted, bringing Naruto back to reality who nodded and followed his clone to help the girls.

That however wasn't necessary anymore. The moment the brother fighting Naruto let out his pain-filled scream was the other looking back to the first, watching in shock how he got beaten down by the boy. "Brother!" he shouted out to him, but didn't got any reply. But the distraction was enough and the damage done, his battle lost as well because of that. The shock was slowing him down, nearly stopping his movements and several, the last ones to be exactly cause she ran out of water to use, needles hit him in the flank, providing some damage.

From the other side was Hanabi landing several hits with her stones as well. Both together wasn't enough to knock the brother out or even kill him because most of it just hit his body, upper and lower the same, basicly just inflicting wounds on the outside of it. It was one lucky stone that actually managed to hit his temple with high speed that in the end knocked him out, letting him fall to the ground out cold.

Both girls realized how lucky they were just now. Hinata, being out of water to use for her needles, dropped backwards and landed on her butt, letting the pain and exhaustion finally take over her body. She was breathing hard and closed her eyes, trying to calm down and focus. Hanabi was in a similiar state. While she might not be hurt at all was she too breathing hard, actually gasping for air, before her vision went black. Just a second longer and she would have passed out during the fight, signing her fate. Her will was trying to ignore it, but she exhausted her chakra once again, falling forward and landing face first in the dirt of the road.

Hokage office

Not caring for a thing in the world was C barging into the Hokage's office, his latest report in hand. "Hey boss man, we got problems!" he exclaimed, walking over to the desk and slamming the report down on it, a serious expression on his face.

Looking up at him in confusion was Sarutobi pondering if he should get angry about this interruption or not, but decided not to, knowing that it most likely was a serious case. "Alright, I'll tend to it right away. Think it could wait some minutes that I can dismiss the team?" he spoke calmly, watching C's expression shift to confusion.

Turning around was he just now realizing that a team was present in the office. A team that looked like it just went through hell and back, stains and cuts all over their clothing. Sakura and Kiba were glaring at him angrily for different reasons while Shino's expression was as neutral as always. Kurenai was simply shaking her head. "You know, one of these days will your behaviour backfire on you, C." she stated matter of factly.

Quickly taking in the state of the genin team and making a short analyzation was C shrugging. "So? What's more important? Your team reporting that it just went two rounds around the village with that demon cat Tora or me reporting that a labeled C-rank mission got misjudged?"

"Was simply pointing out the truth." Kurenai replied, not really being offended by that disruption. She knew C long enough by now to know that that's just the way he is.

The Hokage however got intrested suddenly. "What do you mean by a C-rank being misjudged?"

"I got the detailed report about the land of Waves. An involvement of the Organization is quite possible and it seems that this Gato guy also hired some missing nins. Every mission going in that direction should be considered A-rank. Wrote all the information down." he pointed to the report on the desk while explaining.

"Wait a moment... you already got the detailed report I requested? Within two days? I need to ask... how is your network working? My best men would have needed at least two days to even reach the land of Waves." he was looking at C with a bit of curiosity and doubt.

"Ah, sorry boss, business secret. I like my connections and working ways just the way they are, as secrets. You know what might have happened if She had knowledge about my network, right?" his tune changed to dead serious, something neither Kurenai nor the Hokage were used to from C.

"There wouldn't be any network working for you anymore, right..." he shook his head, finally thinking about the Wave mission. "Wonderful..." Sarutobi sighed, slumping down in his chair. "I sent Kakashi's team this morning."

"What?!" Kiba couldn't keep quiet anymore. "Why the hell are they getting a C-rank while we have to do stupid stuff like catching that stupid cat?". He just couldn't believe that Hanabi and her team got better missions than himself, something that would most likely only add on his hate further.

"Because, compared to another loudmouthed brat, are they able to keep secrets and already proved that they are able to handle stuff like that?" C offered, raising an eyebrow at Kiba. "That and other reasons." he shrugged in the end.

Looking back at him in confusion and disbelief was Kiba unable to reply anything. Shino was shaking his head at that scene. "He was talking about you, Kiba." he clarified for his teammate.

Sakura was about to speak up as well, but a hand, that got suddenly placed on her shoulder, stopped her. "Whatever you want to say, just drop it." Kurenai said quietly to her. "We all know that you two can't stand the Hyuga sisters, but whatever you want to say will only pull you two deeper into trouble."

"Ah, yes, the incident during the assignments during which the Inuzuka openly talked about classified informations. I was informed about that and it was already noted." Sarutobi nodded slightly. "And as for the Wave mission... C, I want you to prepare to follow them to deliver the newest informations and updates on the mission. They can decide however they want once they learn about it."

Thinking it over for a moment was C looking back at the Hokage with a serious expression. "You really want to risk me running into someone from the Organization? You know what might happen if they learn that I'm still alive and working for Konoha?"

"Who else should I send? You got the informations and connections out there. And if the Organization is involved are you our expert." the argument was plain and simple, but true to the core.

"Alright boss, as you order. Will need some time cause I have to talk to Tenten-chan for additional supplies. Can depart tomorrow morning." he simply stated and turned to leave, not even waiting for additional words from the village leader. Passing the genin team on his way out was he looking into two pair of glaring eyes and an expression he couldn't read. "You know, instead of channeling your hate at me should you try to recover. I'm pretty sure the demon cat Tora is already on her move again, just waiting for you."

Not looking back at the genin was he finally leaving. Kiba, barely held back by Sakura and Shino, was trying to attack C from behind. He hated Hanabi, but that guy was nearly as bad as the girl in his eyes. Kurenai only shook her head and let out a long sigh. She had much work to do if she wanted her team to be useful.

Near the road leading towards Wave (alternate scene available)  


Hanabi was slowly finding her way back into the realm of the living, her body starting to regain his senses. She could hear a bird singing, she could feel the exhaustion of her body and the hand slowly stroking through her hair and she could smell burning wood. Opening her eyes carefully was she trying to figure out where she was and why she was there. It took some moments for her sight to adjust and the first thing she saw was the worried face of her sister. "Sis?" she asked quietly, still trying to understand what was going on.

Hinata was gently smiling back at her sister. "I'm glad you are awake. I was afraid when you fell to the ground... you know you shouldn't exhaust your chakra like that." she was scolding Hanabi, as an older sister caring about her deeply.

"But, if I hadn't..." she started to reply, when her memories came back to her. "Wait a moment! Where's Spooky?". Sitting up in an instant was she looking around, trying to figure out where she was and more important to see about her sensei.

Simply pointing in a direction was Hinata having a scowl on her face, openly showing dislike. To what did Hanabi quickly realize when she looked over in the direction her sister pointed. "Yo!" Kakashi said, giving her a weak wave, his eye burried inside his book. He was standing next to the bound and still out cold brothers his genin defeated previously, not a single wound visible on his body.

Trying to understand what happened was Hanabi's mind racing. "But you... I... we saw you getting killed!" she exclaimed loudly, an utter look of disbelief on her face. Hinata was looking slightly away, not wanting to tell her sister what happened. And she hadn't because Kakashi decided to explain it to her.

"Please... that ambush was so easy to identify. I mean, just think about it, a puddle on the road when the sun was shining all day long? That's way too suspicious than to surprise me." he finished his explanation, not aware of the anger rising inside of Hanabi with every word he spoke.

Hinata however, knowing her sister good enough, was already holding her back when Hanabi tried to jump up and charge at Kakashi. "Let me go!" she shouted to her sister, anger in her voice. "I'm going to kill him now! That's exactly what I said and he just discarded it. That's... that's... RARGH!"

"What have we agreed on about getting violent against your own teammates? That does, believe it or not, include me." Kakashi shook his head, finally looking at Hanabi who slumped back down on the ground, sighing in frustration.

"Can't you be somewhat quieter?" Tazuna asked, coming back to the group with Naruto next to him. "You don't want to draw even more attention on us, do you?". His focus shifted to Kakashi before he continued. "We set up the camp for the night, that the kids can rest. I suppose you are going to guard us?"

"That was the plan, yes." Kakashi nodded, changing his focus on his team afterwards. "I'm disappointed, by the way. You may have won, all by yourself, but you left our client unguarded. You might have been lucky this time, that there was no additional attacker, but it could have ended badly for our mission."

The girls looked at the ground, not daring to speak up, both of them for a completely different reason. Naruto however felt he had to complain. "But if my clone hadn't come to help me would all three of us be dead by now!"

Kakashi shook his head again. "That's the life of a shinobi, even risking and giving their own life to protect the mission... you'll understand it one day." he said quietly, before switching topics. "Anyway, I'm just not sure what to do with our prisoners here. If they wake up might they make us trouble I want to avoid..." he pondered aloud.

Walking over to the beaten forms of the demon brothers was Naruto looking them over before pointing to their scratched out headbands. "Hey, Spooky, isn't that the indicator for them being missing nins? Doesn't that mean that there is a bounty we could get for them and that our win is even greater now?" a grin was on his face.

Looking back at the grinning Naruto was Kakashi scolding him again before pondering that question. "You still left our client unguarded. That's a fact you won't get around, no matter what you say. And I'm not having a bingo book with me, but I suppose there might be one. However, we neither have the time nor the ressources to pack them up and bring them back to Konoha or to another place that would be willing to pay us." he simply shrugged, deciding that this topic was over.

Hinata however wasn't ready to let the topic slip so fast. "Hmm, but if there is a bounty might this be a nice bonus, right?" she pondered aloud, thinking it over before looking at her sister. "Say... you think the thing from C might work?"

Hanabi had confusion written all over her face, not exactly knowing what her sister might be referring to. Her mind might be present already, but it isn't at full capacity yet after suffering of chakra exhaustion. "The... thing? What do you mean, sis?"

Blushing a slight red was Hinata not willing to spell it out in front of her teammate, sensei and client. "You know, the one thing he mentioned, that had me totally freak out. His joker card."

And there was the missing piece of information Hanabi needed to pick up on her sisters thought. "Oh, right, _that_ thing." a small smile entered her face. "Well, he did say that it would be picked up, right?"

Looking from one girl to the other was Kakashi slightly lost. "Alright, would you two mind explaining to us what you are talking about?"

"Well, I suppose it's easier to show you." Hanabi started to giggle and pulled out C's joker, hoping to be able to release the stored item the same way as the stuff inside the ace. Going through the handsigns and channeling her chakra into the card was the surrounding covered in a smokescreen, leaving all five of them with disbeliefing looks once it settled down.

The girls at least knew what the card contained, but they never had released it yet, leaving them clueless about the exact details. The males also had very different expressions on their faces.

"...what the hell have I gotten myself into here?" Tazuna asked, shaking his head slowly. Sure, he had heard stories about shinobi being strange at times, but the more time he spent with this team the more was he doubting their sanity. Girls carrying around a cage?

"So that's what is inside the card, huh?" Naruto asked, more curious than anything. After all did he ask the girls to tell him, but they never did.

"Yeah, seems that way..." Hanabi nodded slightly, checking out the cage that appeared in front of them. It looked solid and she could actually feel that the metal used for the bars weren't common at all. She knew that she don't wanted to be trapped inside it. Sure, it was large enough, being a good 2 meters high and with a length and width of 1 meter each, but the metal just promised pure evil.

"Chakra suppressing metal, I wouldn't expect anything less from C." Kakashi spoke out loud, checking the cage over as well. "I suppose it would work to trap them inside, but we won't be able to move it around at all. So, what was that about it being picked up?"

Hinata shrugged her shoulders. "C said that once a person is locked inside, will someone from his network be able to detect it and come to pick it up."

"I see. Guess it's worth a try. Alright, help me put these two inside and then let us rest. You need to recover from your fight and we all could need something to eat." Kakashi ordered his team. While Naruto and Hanabi started to help him was Hinata, shortly followed by Tazuna, making her way over to the improvised camp to start the cooking.

Later that evening

A lone figure was sitting atop a horse cart, traveling the route from Konoha to the Land of Waves. It was a middle aged man, brown hair, simple clothes in grey and brown. The type of person you see and forget right away. His horse was as common as he was, a combination of mainly light brown with a bit darker brown at places. He, together with his horse, was the best example for the term of generic, something the man was glad about. After all might his work get that much more troublesome if people started to recognize him. The last thing he wanted was problems in his simple life.

The sun was close to being gone completely, the last rays of light slightly illuminating the road, but he wasn't caring about it. He and his horse knew the area, the road, the night as good as they knew their own bodies or home. Darkness or not, they always found their goal.

Smiling to himself was he stopping his horse in the middle of the road, quite randomly for an onlooker if there were any, and climbed down from his cart. Giving his horse some pats on it's back and whispering some words in it's ear was he soon on his way away from the road, walking into the forest adjacent to it. He knew exactly where he had to go, knew exactly what he was looking for. And if somebody should happen to see him, not that he expected it, would they forget about him pretty quick. His mood was good.

What he wasn't expecting however was the sight he was about to see after passing an old tree with thick trunk and walking through some bushes. He walked right into a small campsite, occupied by shinobi. They had a small campfire, carefully built and covered to not make too much visible light to the surrounding with two men, one older and with grey hear and the other one clearly a shinobi with a mask covering his lower face half, sitting next to it and quietly discussing about something. A bit to the side were two girls sitting and chatting to each other, they also being shinobi, something he saw with the first glance, his eye trained to spot a headband.

He would have missed the fifth person, laying in the back and watching the appearing stars, were it not for his orange clothes giving him away in this more or less dark area. In addition to that were the two men looking up and in his direction, the sounds of the bushes having created too much noise for them not to notice. "Ah... uhm... I..." the man started, not exactly knowing what to say, being in such a situation for the very first time. His job was so easy all these years. Follow a trail, finding the object to pick up and deliver it to whereever the note attached to it stated. But he never ran into a group of shinobi guarding the object he was about to pick up.

Speaking up resulted in the girls stopping to chat and looking over at him as well and also the boy in the back was lifting his head for a moment, looking in his direction before laying back down. He knew that four people, three of them shinobi even with two of them being just being kids, were mustering him right now and that he might get a problem now.

Deciding that the man who just walked into their improvised campsite was no threat to them was Kakashi giving him a small smile below his mask. "I'm sorry, but we aren't having any food left we could share with you. Or is it other business that brings you here?" he spoke politely to the stranger, only increasing his confusion and uneasyness.

"I..." the man started again, looking from Kakashi to the girls and back to the shinobi who clearly was the leader of this team. "I wasn't expecting anybody to be here. I should take my leave. Excuse me for bothering you." he said with a firm voice and turned around to leave, after giving a quick glance towards the cage that was standing slightly at the side. He wasn't seeing who or what was inside and he wasn't caring at all. All he cared about was the fact that these shinobi were in his way of picking it up and delivering it to whereever it needed to be delivered.

Kakashi's trained eye however noticed the glance of the man and he stopped him by speaking up again. "Ah, but it would be unfortunate for you to just leave already. Come, sit down, let's have a nice talk."

Figuring that he was most likely done for, his simple life, this easy job he had so far, all over, was he trying to get out of it alive somehow. "Thanks for that offer, but I gotta decline. I gotta need to be somewhere and I can't be late."

The man was still standing with his back towards the camp, not daring to turn around again, not daring to look at the shinobi sitting there. Because of that was he missing the look and nod Kakashi did towards Hanabi while making a gesture towards the cage. Understanding quickly what Kakashi wanted to tell her was she getting up from her position, getting a slightly confused and worried look from Hinata, and walking over to the man, stopping right behind him. Putting on the most innocent face she could muster was she poking him in the back. "Say, you aren't by any chance looking for the cage over there, do you?"

Hearing a girl right behind him and feeling her finger on his back was he letting out a long sigh and finally decided to turn around. He was scared, looking into the face of Hanabi. Her innocent look would fool most people, that much was clear to him, but the mischievious glint in her eyes spoke a completely other language. A language he understood quite good, making him finally realize that these shinobi weren't here to kill him but the ones who actually called him to come there. It just was a different situation to every time he picked up the cage prior. Though the last time was three years ago at all he had to admit.

Pondering about the girl standing in front of him for a moment longer, she couldn't be older as ten years he figured, was he shaking his head to get it clear again. He wasn't going to question the situation or the persons having called him. It was a good paying job and all he had to do was to pick up and deliver goods without asking questions. "Alright, fine. Yes, I came for that cage. So, shall I pick it up now and where to bring it?" he asked, still looking at the girl in front of him. He couldn't grasp that he was discussing this with a little girl and not the leader of the team.

"Yup, would be great!" Hanabi smiled at him. It would look quite innocent, a little girl smiling at a stranger, but then again was there this glint in her eyes, sending a shiver down his spine. "Could you bring it back to Konoha for us?"

"Konoha?" the man asked in surprise, his look changing, now eyeing the girl and the rest of the group warily. He never delivered straight into a village before, too many eyewitnesses. He didn't knew about the goods yet, but that was a bit too risky for him. "Sorry, but I'm not that crazy to drive straight into a village with questionable cargo. I happen to like my freedom."

"Questionable cargo?" Hanabi asked in return, confusion in her voice. She looked back towards Kakashi, hoping that he could give her an explanation.

Seeing the look of his genin was he shrugging his shoulders. "Just think about who gave you that thing." he answered her unspoken question.

Slowly nodding her head in understanding was she eyeing the man again. "Don't worry, it's all good. We just need someone who can bring it back to Konoha for us because we don't have the time for it."

Thinking it over was the man pondering the girl. She knew about the fact that he would appear, so it must be some kind of being okay to do that delivery, right? But he wasn't doing any deliveries the past three years, finally bringing his mind to the one major problem he saw within this situation. "What about the payment?" he asked, realizing that these were completely different terms, a complete different situation to what he was used to.

That question hit Hanabi unprepared. Sure, C told them that someone would come and pick up the cage if used, but he never went into any details about who, how or the ways of payments. Suddenly she realized that using that cage maybe wasn't the best of her ideas, not knowing in what kind of situation she might have gotten right. On the other side was she trusting C, somehow, despite all his flaws and their shared past. Gulping down her thoughts was she hesitantly answering. "Uhm... that will be handled like always?"

The insecurity in her voice was hearable by everyone and she knew it, cursing herself for being weak right now. The man eyed her carefully, pondering about the action he should take, before shrugging. "Alright, fine. Am going to do it this one time. If anything should go wrong or no payment being provided am I going to ignore the call in the future, got that?"

Simply giving a slow nod was she keeping quiet, her confidence being reduced by the statement of that man. She didn't knew him, she didn't knew his past or his relation to C, all she knew was that she needed that man right now if she wanted to to get the bounty for the two missing nins they beat that day. Not even sure how high it actually was would it still be a nice bonus for her and her friends.

The man simply walked over to the cage after acknowledging the girls reaction, deciding that he lost enough time already, ignoring the curious eyes of the group watching him. They would forget about him anyway. Finally reaching the object of interest was he just giving a quick glance inside, noting that it held two beaten shinobi prisoner. Knowing that they wouldn't wake up, the cage not only suppressing chakra but also keeping the chakra level of the poor souls being trapt inside low enough to knock them out, was he kneeling down next to it and touching the base of the cage on different spots.

The kids and Tazuna looked in surprise when the man simply started pushing the cage towards the road like it would weight nothing. Kakashi simply figured that the cage must have a built in way of adjusting the weight for simply transportation, it being created for that very purpose after all. Once the man disappeared with the cage between the trees was Kakashi addressing his group. "Alright, now that this is taken care off, I really hope that we won't regret that later, can we now rest. I'll take the first watch and will wake some of you to take the second later that night."

Confirming that order were the kids getting their sleeping bags out of their supplies, laying down for sleep, while Kakashi was resuming his discussion with Tazuna for now.

Back on the street was the man currently lifting the cage up on the cart and covering it with a blanket. He wasn't expecting to run into another unexpected encounter this night, but one could never be careful enough. That was something he learned quite early after starting to do this job.

Konoha Maingate, the next morning

It was still early when C reached the gates of Konoha, having finished all his preparations to leave the village for his mission. He actually was glad that he was allowed to leave the city for a change, not having done so since the day he revealed his presence to the officials. But his mood got darkened by the fact that he got a mission in a land in which the Organization was most likely operating.

The day he killed the tracker searching for him was the day his live got somewhat safe, considering the Organization never risked to loose multiple members on the same mission. But leaving town, risking to be spotted by any member from the Organization, that was something he really dreaded. Considering his prior rank with them was he expecting several killing squads, the best of them most likely, to be on his tail. Not to mention the bounty that would be placed on his head.

Shaking his head to get his thoughts clear was he noticing a small commotion happening just outside the gate. Being curious, information are his business after all, and needing to walk in that direction to leave the village anyway, was he deciding to check it out eventually. Getting close was he shouting out to the two chunin currently in a heated discussion with a man that reached the gate this morning riding on a horse cart, but currently standing next to it. "Hey, Izumo, Kotetsu, what's the matter?"

Looking over towards the voice was one of the chunin quickly walking over to him. "Yo C, what are you doing here that early?" the chunin with spiky black hair and a bandage running over his nose spoke up. "If you want to rip us off even more do I have to disappoint you. You already broke us this month."

He couldn't help but let a grin appear on his face. He was famous and infamous at the same with the chunin of Konoha. On one side was he the guy that always had the good rumours to tell, not to mention that many of them actually challenged him to get a shot at winning the underwear of a female jonin that would most likely enjoy to torture any chunin if they were dumb enough mentioning it in her surrounding. But on the other side was he also the guy able to beat any of them in a card game, never really loosing the intresting stuff he bet.

"Nah, got a mission from the boss man and just wanted to leave. So, what's with this commotion you two are making here?" he asked raising an eyebrow, eyeing first Kotetsu before looking over to Izumo who was still arguing and discussing with the man.

"Ah, you see, that strange guy appeared here this morning, basicly out of nowhere. He isn't telling a name, just saying he had a delivery to make to Konoha. Though no information on who sent it, who shall receive it and he can't identify himself at all." Kotetsu explained to him. "Think you could take over? You are a jonin involved with Intelligence and T&I after all."

Nodding slightly was C walking slowly over to Izumo and the man, Kotetsu right next to him. "Did you actually bother to check what he is trying to deliver?" he asked, his eye looking warily at the blanket clearly covering an object on the cart, a spark of recognition in it.

"Well, you see..." Kotetsu started, scratching the back of his head.

"Heh, right, I see." C shook his head. "Yo, a bit early for such a commotion, don't ya think?" he spoke up, having reached the discussing pair. "I'm not having much time, so, could I please get the details short and simple?"

Eyeing the newcomer was the man sighing, before speaking up. "As I already explained to these two am I asked to make a delivery to Konoha and wanted to be on my way back already. But for some reason are they stubborn and won't let me finish my job. Should have known that I should have avoided shinobi at all..." he grumbled the last part, more to himself than anything.

The grin on C's face got wider and wider, having quite a good idea what was happening here right now. He made a mental note to gratulate Hanabi once he saw her. "Yeah, I see, that's a problem that needs to be solved. Mind if I take a look on the goods?"

There was a quick flash inside the man's brain, a short realization that the newcomer had a knowledge the other two didn't have. A knowledge about his job, simply indentified by the way he spoke about the goods he wanted to deliver. "Sure, go ahead. If I can finish my job then..." the man said with a shrug.

Climbing atop the cart was C raising the blanket, checking out what was hidden below. His grin changed to a smirk when he confirmed that indeed the man was working for his network, not knowing the head of it of course, by simply indentifying the cage transported as his own. The smirk however quickly went away and made room for a shocked expression as soon as he saw the two men inside the cage, a flash of recognition appearing in the back of his mind. "Wait a minute!" he exclaimed loudly. "Aren't these two..."

His voice trailed off, entering a state of deep thought trying to remember why he seemed to know the two shinobi that were still out cold inside that cage. The two chunin were looking at him in confusion, the man with impatience. "These are... yeah, they must. It's been some while, but... damned..." he muttered to himself, taking out a bingo book and quickly flipping through the pages. "Yeah, no doubt. These are the Demon Brothers from Kiri... And considering who is using my stuff... and what we know..."

"What's wrong, C?" Izumo asked carefully, like most shinobi of the village never having seen him that serious at all.

Jumping down from the cart was he addressing the man that still looked impatient at him. "Payment the usual way. There will be a small bonus as well." after getting a nod from the man was he changing his focus on the two chunin. "You two, important orders. Deliver these goods to T&I. They shall get as much information out of it as possible. Payment for the bounty shall be put aside for Spooky's team upon return. And inform the old man right away that we got to deal with _the_ Demon in Waves. He needs to know that."

"Woah there, why are you giving out orders all of a sudden?" Izumo asked, easily forgetting that C in fact was a superior. He couldn't be blamed for that at all, considering that C never had an aura of authority around him, always showing the gambler and card trickster.

Getting a glare in return was Izumo shrinking down a little, trying to cover behind Kotetsu. "Izumo, you go ahead and tell the Hokage. I'm getting a team and cart to take over the delivery." he quickly told his friend who nodded and left, running straight towards the Hokage tower. "Alright C, leave it to us. We can deal with the situation now."

"At least some do remember that I'm more than my image might suggest." he replied with a nod. "Well, really have to leave now. With these new informations is there just no time for me to loose. See ya 'round!" he said will turning around, making a head start down the road, his mind working over the newest informations. The fact that Kakashi's team beat the demon brothers was promising and that the girls thought about using the cage told him that they can't be too much beaten theirselfs. But he just had no idea how many time they might have left before they would run into even more trouble...

XXXXX

 _ **Author's Note:**_ Well, that's it for now. I was struggling halfway through, intuition and mind fighting whether or not Kakashi died. That was an evil cliffhangar last chapter, wasn't it? Well, my mind won that one. Though my intuition is still nagging me about it - am writing on the scene with Kakashi being dead as well. Will put it in the "A Tale of two Sisters - Alternate Scenes" story I recently created. I suppose some of you already saw it, others might not. Will put alternate stuff there from time to time, once I happen to decide writing alternate stuff at all.  
There will be an indication on alternate scenes within the chapter at the points they will be happen - and it might range from single scenes up to an half chapter or something. Always depends on what my mind is creating without me noticing ;-)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, as always - and yes, the kids are in need of new skills and tricks, I know that myself. Working on it, really! Beside of that: your thoughts on the fight? Still think it's one of my weak points...  
I do think however that their teamwork was fine this time - and they are allowed to be a bit lucky for a change, right?


	27. Chapter 26 - Less Wave, More Randomness

"What? I'm on a mission outside the village. You really expecting me to submit a report right now?

Okay, fine, whatever. There's a road leading towards the villages main gate. It is a well used dirt road that can be hard to travel if there's strong rain. To either side of the road are lots of trees, not to say that the village and road are completely surrounded by forests. The village isn't known to be the "Village hidden in the leaf" for nothing. Surprise, huh?

And currently am I traveling at that road, away from the village. There, happy now?"

\- C

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 26: How to create a filler chapter, step 1: write about every character that appeared so far and avoid the main ones  
**

Asuma stood on a training field, waiting for his genin team. It was quite early in the morning and the air was still fresh, his breath visible whenever he exhaled. In one hand was he holding a cigarette from which he inhaled from time to time. In the other hand was he holding the piece of paper he wrote the day before as bet for their gambling. "I'll start to train my genin properly, huh?" he mused to himself, reading the few words over and over again. "Well, I suppose that it would be bad if they died out there because of a lack of training. Still..."

Raising his head was he watching his first genin appear and put the paper back into a pocket. He wasn't surprised that Ino was the first to show up, considering that she always was in high spirits and lively, willing to do what is needed. Or so he heard from Inoichi who was talking about his daughter whenever possible. Just that, taking a closer look at the girl, she didn't seemed that lively at all. He discarded that thought at first, thinking that she just gave up trying to get her friends to train, but the words from his friend the day before came back to mind, seeing her now.

"Morning Ino." he started and gave her a slight wave, but she wasn't really reacting to that. He shook his head slightly to get his thoughts clear. 'Well, guess they were right when they said that this is part of my responsibility as well now...' he thought to himself before focusing back on the girl. "Care to talk about it?" he asked.

"Talk about what...?" she asked back, looking at her sensei with slight confusion written all over her face.

"See, I was talking with your father recently..." Asuma started, but got interrupted by Ino.

"You mean you two went drinking." she stated bluntly with a monotone voice.

"So? We are adults, there's nothing wrong with that." he shook his head. "Anyway, I talked to him and he pointed out that as your sensei am I partially responsible for your well-being. I'll ask again. Care to talk about what you saw inside the minds of your friends?"

Ino kept quiet for some moments, pondering the question before shaking her head. "Not really... I mean, you don't know how a mind works like my father... so I don't see you being able to help..."

"You could at least try and see if you are right with that statement. Have a little trust in your sensei." Asuma reasoned back to the girl. He was aware that he really should care more for his genin.

"Doubtful..." Ino shook her head before sighing. "I mean, what do you want to do? I got threaten to be made a pet..." she spoke without thinking too much about it, though a small blush entered her face unnoticed.

Raising an eyebrow was it now Asuma's turn to stay quiet for some moments, pondering his answer. "Well, I suppose it shouldn't be surprising that the two got a kinky side to them. Considering their situation and all... plausible that Hanabi would have these kind of thoughts."

"Hanabi-chan? You mean because she is owning her sister as a slave?" Ino let out a dry laugh. "I suppose I could understand it if it was her..." she shook her head slowly. "But it was Hinata-chan who threated me. Her mind was... scary. Like, totally."

"Hinata?" Asuma was looking at Ino in disbelief, even forgetting to keep his cigarette in hand, dropping it to the ground. "You are telling me that the shy and quiet girl that is always following her sister around was... threatening you?"

Nodding slightly was Ino looking around, fearing that someone might hear what she has to say next. "She may be quiet in general, but that's just the surface. Her personality is currently by far the more dangerous one from the two of them. Though that's also because Hanabi-chan is trapped inside past events that caused several trauma to her."

"I... see..." Asuma said slowly, thinking over the informations he just got. It was one thing being informed that a girl enslaved her sister, but it was a completely different thing to learn details about them.

"Told you that you wouldn't be able to help me." Ino stated matter of factly while crossing her arms over her chest, looking at Asuma's reaction with caution.

That however brought a grin on Asuma's face, confusing the girl. "Well, it is true that I'm no expert of the mind like your father, who is helping you currently, right? Though I think I did help you. Right now are you way less stressed and concerned compared to the time you arrived here."

"I suppose..." she answered thoughtfully, slowly nodding her head.

"Alright. Now that this is settled and the rest of the team not yet here... You wanted to know how to improve with your Fire Style, right?"

That brought a spark into Ino's eye, looking at her sensei in disbelief. "You feeling sick? Are you just offering to help me train?"

"It was recently pointed out to me that it will be my responsibility if the three of you die out there or might end with another bad fate. So I suppose I should take this whole sensei thing a bit more serious and teach you how to survive." Asuma shrugged during his reply, speaking calm and neutral.

She was trying to hold the laughter back, but she failed. Bursting out into laughter was Ino holding her stomach and needed some moments to settle down, during which Asuma wasn't reacting at all. When she was finally able to form a coherent sentence again was she trying to tease her sensei. "Did you really just said 'another bad fate'? Why aren't you saying that C was drinking together with you? I mean, my best friends enslaved each other and I'm involved with C because of them. And I know what happened to them in the past. 'Another bad fate'... Just name it, that I could end as slave as well!" there was slight anger crawling up her body. It wasn't about what could happen to her. It was about her sensei being unwilling to speak to her with facts.

Simply smiling back at Ino was Asuma calmly answering. "And now please use your Fire Style jutsu."

Being confused by that sudden change of topic was Ino looking at Asuma dumbstruck for a moment, before doing as told and going through the handsigns. "Fire Style: Flame." she mumbled, concentrating to form the little flame abover her hand. Just that it wasn't as little as usual and that it formed a bit faster compared to the other times she was training with it. "What the..."

"There is a reason why they say that fire would represent anger and rage. I'm not saying that it would be wise to let your anger overcome you within a battle. In fact will this only lead to you making mistakes and dying faster. But it is a valid way of training the Fire Style." Asuma explained, the smile still on his face. "Though, reaching your goal of creating multiple ones will still be hard to achieve."

Finally smiling back was Ino nodding. "At least do I now know how to train more effective. Thank you, Asuma-sensei."

And with that was she starting to test her jutsu a bit for now, while both of them still waited for the rest of the team to appear. The thoughts clouding Ino's mind, at least for now, gone. 'Heh, who said I would be unable to train a genin team?' Asuma thought to himself while watching Ino train, his hand sliding into his pocket and unconscious grabbing the piece of paper.

Konoha T&I

"That got to be a joke..." Inoichi stated in disbelief, watching the chunin delivering a cage containing two prisoner. It was less the fact that they brought prisoners for interrogation, that was something that actually happened quite often with bandits in the close surrounding of the village or spies of other villages trying to get informations about Konoha. What shocked him was the way the prisoners were delivered. Konoha wasn't using cages for transportation for them being too hard to move around in a situation they couldn't loose any time, leaving him to ponder about who the owner of that cage was and why it was delivered to them.

Walking over to Inoichi was Kotetsu giving him a wave. "Morning! There was a strange fellow at the main gate this morning, having this cage on a cart. We were suspicious about him, sure, but C passed the gate some minutes later and gave us orders to bring it here."

He couldn't help but to facepalm. "Why am I not surprised that C is somehow involved in that situation?" he asked nobody in particular, simply searching for a way to voice his disbelief. "Okay, fine. So we got some interrogation to do, I get it. Are there any more informations for us? Did he say anything else than just to bring that cage here?"

"Well..." Kotetsu started, not exactly sure how to word it. "He seemed to know something, but he wasn't telling us a word. All he said was that the bounty for these two shall be reserved for Spooky's team upon returning." he shrugged.

"Bounty?" Inoichi asked back, getting a nod from Kotetsu. He had two options and he knew it. The first would be searching the archives to find the identity of these shinobi and to look their bounty up. The second however... "Anko! Get over here!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the building. He wasn't happy about having to deal with her that morning, not after their gambling the day before with her panties on the line, but she was the best source for that kind of information he had at hand - and it would be much quicker than searching the archives.

Not even two minutes later was Anko walking down a hallway, anger clearly written across her face. She was as pleased as Inoichi to deal with the other and ready to give him a piece of her mind. However, after getting closer and getting a look at the cage was she bursting out into laughter, her anger quickly forgotten. "Don't tell me..." she started between heavy breaths, trying to calm down. "...that C went back into the capture business. He hadn't told me." the last part was spoken with a touch of disappointment.

"From what I understand was he not involved. He said, however, to reserve the bounty for these two for Spooky's team upon return." Inoichi explained while shaking his head. He wasn't understanding his co-worker at times, which was even harder for him to understand, considering that he was a master of understanding the mind in general. "So, if you would be so kind?" he asked, looking at Anko.

Shrugging her shoulders was Anko stepping close to the cage, checking out the two figures inside. Raising an eyebrow was she turning around to look at Inoichi and Kotetsu. "Spooky's team?" she asked, getting a nod from both before letting out an approving whistle. "Well, that's impressive. What we got here are B-ranked missing nins from Kiri, commonly known as the Demon Brothers. They are worth a decent amount" she shrugged. "The more intresting part is that they are listed as subordinates of the Demon from the Mist, also known as..."

"Zabuza Momochi." a heavily scarred man wearing a black trenchcoat, that just happened to pass the scene, finished for Anko. "Still trying to impress others with the fact that you know every shinobi listed in our bingo book?"

"Not really. He asked for it, actually." was Anko's simple reply to that question.

"I see. Alright, show's over. Inoichi, get this cage out of my hallway and start looking into their minds for informations. Anko..." he paused a moment, looking at the woman before shaking his head. "Do whatever you want. I know that you won't listen to my orders anyway. So, which team managed to capture them?"

"From what I understand was it Kakashi's team." Kotetsu provided, watching the T&I staff walking deeper into the building, dragging the heavy cage with them.

"Huh, surprising. A just created genin team beat two B-ranked shinobi? Seems like we would have some promising genin this year. That's good to know." the scarred man pondered aloud before shifting his attention back on Kotetsu. "Still standing here? I do believe that you got a gate to guard?"

Feeling a shiver run down his spine was Kotetsu quickly nodding and left the building, leaving the head of T&I to his own thoughts.

Makeshift camp near the road towards Wave

Hanabi yawned loudly and rubbed her eyes. To say she was tired would be a total understatement. Not only was her chakra not yet back to full capacity after she suffered from chakra exhaustion during the fight with the demon brothers, her body also had no real time to rest after she got woken in the middle of the night by Kakashi to take the second guard that he could rest a bit.

She was of course complaining, arguing that she needed to rest and that she wouldn't be able to do much in that state, that she would be a bad choice as guard. Kakashi only gave her a disapproving look before shaking his head. "And you think that it would be different for Hinata or Naruto? I decided to wake you for two reasons. One, I want you to take responsibility and learn to handle it. And two, even if you are going to rest a bit by closing your eyes are you still able to watch the surrounding. I haven't forgotten your rare skills with your Byakugan. Just don't fall asleep!" he warned her before simply heading over to his sleeping place, not giving the girl any time to protest further.

And here she was, barely able to keep herself awake, watching the rest of the group getting up. It was early in the morning and she was awake for four or five hours by now, having kept an eye on the surroundings. Luckily did nothing happen during the night, during her guard. And she managed to stay awake the whole time, though she had tried to rest her eyes a bit by closing them. It wasn't helping much that her Byakugan activated itself pretty quickly once she started to relax.

She did understand Kakashi's reasons why he woke her up to stay guard, realizing that her eyes were useful for such duty, still, she wished she could have rested her body. Rubbing her eyes again was a voice bringing her out of her thoughts. "Hey, Hanabi-chan, everything okay with you?"

Looking up to see who was talking were her eyes landing on Naruto who was standing before her, watching her with worry. When did he come near? "Uhm, yeah, I guess..." she yawned again. "Just super tired for taking the night guard... and not fully recovered yet I guess..."

"Oh, I see." Naruto nodded slightly, still watching his friend. "Hinata-chan and Tazuna are preparing the breakfast now. And if you want can I carry you a bit once we leave, that way could you rest a bit more?" he offered her with an honest smile on his face.

"Breakfast sounds good..." Hanabi answered quietly, rubbing one of her eyes with her hand again. "And thanks for the offer, but it's okay, really. Though..." she stopped a moment to ponder and looked over at her sister. "How's she doing? The injury healing already?"

Raising an eyebrow was Naruto looking at Hanabi with a slightly confused expression. "Why aren't you asking her yourself?" he asked carefully. "She's your sister after all."

"...and I'm responsible for her anyway..." Hanabi added quietly and nodded, pushing herself up from the ground. "Thanks for caring about me." she gave Naruto an honest smile back, while walking past him to speak to her sister.

"I believe that fight was good for her. Her behaviour changed a bit, didn't it?" Kakashi spoke up stepping next to Naruto. He was listening into their conversation from slightly aside, trying to judge how his genin felt after their encounter with the brothers.

Naruto shook his head slightly. "She's just totally spent and tired. Wait a bit til she's recovered and mention that you tricked us into believeing you died and she'll try to attack you again." he replied in explanation, informing his sensei about what he knew of his friend, when suddenly he got hit by one of the things he just spoke out himself. Turning towards Kakashi was he looking at him in slight anger, his voice loud enough that the others were able to hear him as well. "That reminds me, how the hell did you do that? We saw you being killed right in front of us!"

Realizing that he suddenly got all eyes on him, curious ones from Hinata and Tazuna, angry ones from Hanabi and Naruto, was he giving them a shrug as answer. "Was a simple genjutsu. I expected an ambush, that's why I did preparations. Can come in handy and even save your life." he had a smile on his face while talking.

"How about you teach us instead of just saying that it's such a great thing?" Hanabi shot back, her exhaustion and tiredness partially forgotten.

"How about doing your chakra control excersises as told first? While I must say that you are pretty quick with your brain was your performance in the fight questionable. You did exhaust your chakra way too fast again. Something I warned you about, didn't I?" Kakashi answered the girl who let her head hang slightly. She knew he was right, but she wasn't willing to admit it to him.

"Though I was kinda impressed by you, Hinata. Even with that injury of yours were you able to keep your focus and chakra flow on a working level. But you really need to learn to use more than just existing water sources. There wasn't any left for you to use and you won't be able to use better Water Style jutsu if you aren't able to draw water out from the earth or air." he continued, deciding to tell his team now what he realized watching their fight.

Hinata nodded slightly. "Yeah, I know. I came to the same conclusion when I saw the puddle being emptied..." she said quietly. "If we had to fight longer... I doubt that we would still be alive..."

She decided that both of them needed a bit of comfort right now and pulled her little sister into a hug. Hanabi was a bit surprised by that action, but let her sister do that without complaining, being thankful for that contact and the warmth of her body.

Ignoring that scene was Kakashi shrugging. "Well, I would have interfered before that would have happened. But I wanted to see how the three of you would handle yourself in such a situation." he turned towards Naruto. "I already told you yesterday that you risked our client being killed by leaving his side. Though, nice use of the shadow clones all things considered. And that last move, that was intresting. What exactly have you done?"

Scratching the back of his head was Naruto giving him a weak smile. "I have no idea. I was frustrated and angry and when I saw the opening did I simply concentrate and attacked. Tell you, I was as surprised as that guy when the tip of my staff started to smolder his clothes and burn his skin on contact."

"Meaning you have no clue what you were actually doing..." Kakashi finished for Naruto, shaking his head.

"It's not his fault!" Hinata spoke up, more loudly than usual, slight anger in her voice. "We were fighting for our lives. You can't blame him for not having payed attention on what he did!"

"You know, girl, some may say that it's only the result that is important. But if you don't know how you reached that result, is it really a good result then?" Tazuna deciding to enter the discussion after just listening and doing the last preparations for their breakfast. "If I build a house but in the end don't know how I did that and can't repeat it, could you count that finished house as achievement?" he gave Hinata a warm smile before adressing all of them. "Okay, I think you discussed enough. Food is ready. The sooner we leave the better."

Kakashi nodded at that, keeping silent. He would have a lot more opportunities to lecture his genin. For now was Tazuna right, they should depart soon. He knew that staying too long at one place would be risky. Especially after they were already ambushed and attacked. If there were more of them... or if the one having ordered the attack would appear... he shook his head to clear his mind, joining the others for some food.

Some distance away were two figures standing on a branch of a tree, watching the group with interest. "Well, if this isn't the famous Copycat. And you say he wasn't even involved in the loss of the brothers?" one of them spoke up. It was a slender male wearing dark blue clothing and bandages covering his lower face, a pretty big sword strapped on his back.

"Indeed." the other person replied. It was a feminine voice with a soothing tune to it, belonging to a teen with black hair long enough to reach between the shoulder blades. "I watched them from a safe distance, as you ordered. The brothers did loose to the boy and the two girls only."

"And you said that you know them? I've never seen them before and it would be new to me that you had friends." the first asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not exactly knowing them..." the teen spoke hesitantly, looking up to the adult. "But I've seen them before. I helped to capture them when we were paying off our debt to this Organization, Zabuza-sama."

"I see. But in that case do I wonder why they are part of a shinobi team from Konoha." Zabuza nodded slightly, a small smirk crossing over his face. His focus was now completely on the teen beside him who was running it's fingers over the collar around it's neck.

"I would like to know as well. I'm sure that they would be good slaves and am surprised to meet them again, here of all places, as shinobi." the teen smiled slightly. "I really wonder what happened. And I would like to tell them what they are missing, Zabuza-sama."

Zabuza let out a dry laugh. "Yeah, I guessed as much. Maybe you'll get a chance to talk to them, but don't count on it." he waited for the nod from the teen before he continued. "Anyway, let's leave for now. There's no point in attacking them now. They are most likely on high alert anyway after the brothers attack. Come on, Haku. We are done here for now."

"As you wish, Zabuza-sama." the teen confirmed and followed it's master towards the land of Waves, to do whatever planning they needed to do or to do whatever the master wished for.

Konoha, some side streets

Kiba growled loudly while he was down on all fours, darting through some narrow streets. His partner Akamaru was right next to him, both of them focused on their target, the cat Tora. Tora was well known inside the village for giving every genin team a hard time trying to catch her. And the stories and rumours around her do partially reach back to the founding of the village, which would make you ponder what this cat actually might be, if some would think about it.

These thoughts weren't crossing Kiba's mind though. All he was focused on was catching that stupid cat to finish this stupid D-rank mission. His mind was clouded with anger, the encounter with C in the Hokage office the day before still fresh in his mind. Not only got Hanabi and her team a high ranked mission, no, C also had to threat them to go hunting Tora again the next day, and here he was, doing exactly that.

"Why do we have to do this stupid mission anyway?" he barked into his earpiece, following Tora around the next corner, willing to end this mission as quick as possible.

"Because it was assigned to us by the Hokage and it isn't our right to question that decision." Shino's neutral voice came back. "And I believe that this has somehow to do with your incompetence in keeping secrets and starting a commotion on the day of assignments." he added with the same neutral voice, that let Kiba growl in frustration. "Anyway, my insects are at key points of the side streets. No matter the way she's running, she'll end up at them and get her chakra drained that we can catch her."

"Yeah, so better hurry up and either catch her or hunt her into the bugs. I got better things to do than hunting that cat down over and over." Sakura's voice was heard through the earpiece.

"How about you help us with that instead of just waiting at one exit on the main street?" Kiba asked angry, rounding another corner just to realize that he lost sight of Tora. "Damned, where did she go?" he grumbled, sniffing the air to get her trail again. Akamaru did the same and both realized that they somehow managed to pass Tora and that the cat was running back towards the entry she used to enter the side streets in the first place.

"What's wrong this time?" Kurenai asked sighing, fearing that her team was about to fail that easy mission. "And could you please stop all this discussing? You do realize that these D-rank missions are for testing and increasing your teamwork, right?"

"She tricked us and is running back towards her entry point." Kiba answered with raising anger in his voice, already following the cat again.

"Can't you do anything right?" Sakura asked annoyed, before realization hit her. "Wait... that's my direction. I don't want to get scratched all over my body again by that cat..."

"You sure that you want to be a kunoichi?" Shino asked with his still neutral voice. Though if somebody would watch him right now would they see a rare emotional move by him raising an eyebrow. "I'm directing my bugs to encircle her, should she change directions again."

"I'm more suited to be a kunoichi than this stupid Hinata. I mean, really, a slave to her own younger sister? How stupid can one be?" she shot back, her temper clouding her mind.

"All right, that's enough you three!" Kurenai nearly shouted, letting her three genin flinch by the sudden loud voice in their ears. "It's not your role to judge the Hyuga girls. Now concentrate on catching Tora. You already showed that you can't really work together. Don't make it worse by also failing your mission."

"What did I do?!" Kiba asked, getting closer to the fleeing cat. "Sakura was the one bringing it up!"

"You really have to ask? Who was the one telling secrets in public, making the life of the Hyuga sisters harder?" Shino asked calmly.

"Whatever! Sakura, be ready, we are near your position. Don't you dare let Tora get away!"

Waiting for the cat to pass the last corner was Sakura ready to catch her. She wasn't looking forward to it, really not wanting to get attacked by the cat like she was the day before, but there wasn't much she could do about it at all. Better to get this over with and to forget it right after. True to Kiba's words was Tora soon passing to last corner, aiming for the main street to get away. A small grin entered her face while she started moving towards the cat, willing to catch her.

Tora however was lucky this time, because Kiba was nearly close enough to catch her, meaning that he too shot around the corner quickly after the cat. His eyes went wide when he saw the pink haird girl in front of him coming straight at him. But he had way too much momentum to change anything, the collision not avoidable from his side. Sakura on the other side was too focused on the cat to even notice Kiba behind it, resulting in the two crashing into each other while Tora managed to get past Sakura, already seeing her escape.

"OUCH! Can't you be more careful and watch where you are running?" Sakura grunted out in pain, giving a punch on Kiba's head who was laying atop the girl, having hit her head first straight into the stomach.

"HEY!" Kiba shouted, glaring at the girl after receiving the punch. "What was that for? You knew I was right behind the cat. Why weren't you paying attention?"

"And what about you?" Sakura shot back, real anger now in her voice, one of her eyes twitching. "You aren't paying attention at all. Move your hands, or..." she threated in a low hiss, confusing the boy atop her.

Looking down was he trying to figure out what the girl could mean, checking where his hands were right now. His eyes went wide, quickly followed by a smirk, when he realized that he was supporting his body by having placed two hands on the girls breasts. The whole thing was taking too long in Sakura's opinion and she was already preparing to give him another, this time even stronger, punch, when suddenly Kiba took advantage of this situation and instead of moving his hands away was he giving her breasts a grope.

He barely registered the fist aiming for his head nor the impact of it at the side of it, knocking him out instantly and being strong enough to also throw him off the girls body and at the wall of the building nearby. Sakura was furious while pushing her body off the ground. "Asshole..." she hissed out, watching his body in annoyance before turning around to face the main street, realizing that their target, the cat Tora, was already far away, having escaped. Letting out a growl was she soon sighing, figuring that they failed their mission completely.

Having watched and supervised the whole situation was Kurenai shaking her head, mumuring to herself. "What have I gotten myself into with this team? Their teamwork is basicly non-existent, and both Kiba and Sakura have too much of a temper to actually get along. I got way too much work ahead of me with these two..."

"I would advise locking them up in a room for a day or two and see how they turn out afterwards. Either will they kill each other or make up, Kurenai-sensei." Shino said in his usual neutral and calm voice while approaching their sensei. The bug user was a strange image to everyone seeing him right now. A small white puppy, Akamaru, was trotting happyly at his side, knowing that he performed way better than his partner Kiba. Even stranger was the fact the Shino was carrying Tora in his arms, the cat letting him stroke her fur, not trying to resist at all.

Blinking her eyes twice was Kurenai shaking her head, watching her genin with slight disbelief. "Well, I'm glad to see that in the end you fulfilled the mission, but..." she started, looking at the cat one more time before focusing on Shino. "How have you done that?"

Shino was shrugging slightly. "Tora is pretty smart. After the two crashed was Akamaru still chasing her, right towards my bugs. And when she realized that she got caught, trapped between dog and bugs with no way of escape left, was she admitting defeat this time and simply stopped running, waiting for me to get her."

"That's the first time I'm hearing about something like that happening." Kurenai admitted curious, pondering about the cat.

"She is going to escape again eventually, considering that she is feared by genin since forever. It's not surprising that she can admit defeat and give up, avoiding to get hurt this time. There will always be a next time for her anyway." Shino concluded logically, getting a low purr from the cat that somehow sounded like a confirmation.

"True enough. Brings up the question what exactly she is anyway though." Kurenai was smiling slightly. At least one of her genin was reliable and not like the other two. "Well, could you please get your teammates that we can report back to the Hokage? And I'll consider your proposal about locking them up together and see what's going to happen."

Nodding in confirmation was Shino heading over to where a still angry Sakura was cursing at a blacked out Kiba. He was wondering how he could wake him up without using the girl or the cat to do it violently.

Somewhere unknown

"Could you please repeat that?" a woman asked, raising her eyebrow at the messenger having brought her the latest news from outside their operation area.

"As you wish." the messenger bowed slightly. "We completed the scouting of the land of Waves as ordered, to judge the events there, just as you ordered. As it turned out is a local thug trying to be active in the same businesses as us, which is slightly annoying, considering that we don't like competition. He got a lot of bandits and mercenaries on his paylist to do his dirty work, giving us the opportunity to weaken him by simply buying some of them."

"How come we haven't noticed that yet?" the woman asked more to herself than anyone else. "Competition that close to our area of operation... Do you got numbers on the amount of merchandise he is handling?"

The messenger hesitated a moment before shaking his head. "I'm sorry, but we were unable to get our hands on these informations. In fact have we lost two scouts that were trying to get his lists. All we know is that he is busy on the black market and also selling the same merchandise we do."

"I... see..." the woman answered, a slight twitch in her eye. "Fine, you are dismissed." she watched the messenger leave, her thoughts already working on a solution for this new problem.

A sturdy man was watching her, waiting some moments before speaking up. "So, what now? Hostile takeover?"

"Yeah, maybe..." the female nodded. "J, I want you to travel to the land of Waves and judge the situation there yourself. You got free rule on how you want to solve it, just get this annoyance away from us."

A grin entered the mans face. "Aw, so nice of you to consider my fun." he spoke slightly cheerful, before changing his expression back to professional. "So, any progress yet with the guest you took in?"

"Not yet, no. The boy is pretty stuborn. If he isn't giving us informations about Konoha soon am I considering handling him like I would any other merchandise." she stated neutrally and shrugged.

"Huh, you sure?" the man asked surprised. "He's pretty agressive from what I saw. That action could get some of our men killed. And I'm not sure if there would be someone willing to buy him..."

"Don't worry about that. There are always people intrested in every kind of merchandise, let this be my worry. Now go. The sooner we got the situation in Waves solved, the better." she waved her second in command off, watching him leave the room, before heading to another room inside the hideout herself, to talk once more to the boy they picked up recently...

Road towards the land of Waves

"...we are being followed..." Hanabi said quietly, but still loud enough for the others to hear. The group was already on their way towards their destination after finishing breakfast with Naruto carrying the young girl on his back, to give her the chance to rest a little more after having taken the night watch. His hands were holding her in place by supporting her legs while Hanabi had her arms loosely wrapped around Naruto's neck, her eyes closed to relax. That however resulted in her Byakugan to activate itself and she was kinda scanning the area, having spotted a figure that was closing in on them from the same direction they were coming from.

Kakashi, who was walking next to Naruto, was alarmed by that information. "Maybe some more detailed informations?" he asked the girl. "I'm not to fond of having to deal with even more missing nins. The two from yesterday are enough already."

"Right, because you was the one fighting them..." Hanabi said with sarcasm in her voice before shifting slightly on Naruto's back, straightening up and opening her eyes, focusing on her Byakugan completely now. "Just one person... following along the road out of the direction Konoha is located." she said, her sight focused in the distance. "He isn't trying to hide at all... no headband either, but surely a shinobi. Is racing through the trees..." a long yawn escaped her lips, her tiredness claiming some tribute, deactivating her Byakugan in the process.

Having listened into the conversion and seeing that her sister was too tired to provide more informations was Hinata activating her Byakugan, searching for the person herself. It wasn't long before she found him, a smirk crossing her face. "Nothing to worry about. It's just C following us." she said with a tune in her voice Kakashi wasn't really able to place and Hanabi wasn't realizing. The girl just wasn't sure whether she wanted to meet C right now or not, the recent events between him and the girls still fresh in her mind and there wasn't any time for them yet to speak about it. A meeting might be awkward now.

"Considering that he wasn't leaving the village at all over the last three years am I totally worried." Kakashi replied before adressing Tazuna. "Hey, mind if we take a little break? There's a messenger following us. Might be better to hear what he has for us."

"Can't hurt, huh?" Tazuna nodded slightly. "I mean, after what happened yesterday and all..." and with that was the group stopping, waiting for C to catch up to them.

Around 10 minutes later was C reaching the group that had stopped on a small patch of grass next to the road, surrounded by trees in all directions. Hanabi was half sitting half lieing in the shadow of a tree, her head rested on Hinata's lap who gently comforted her sister by running her hand through her hair. Naruto was sitting cross legged on a tree stump nearby, watching the girls with different emotions. One of it was jealous, imagining both himself being the one with his head on Hinata's lap and also the other way around, Hinata's head on his lap. Another emotion was slight anger about the fact that she was her sisters slave. She had no other choice but to comfort her little sister.

Or had she? He wasn't too sure about it if he was honest. What he could say for sure was that he wasn't judging Hinata as a person because she was a slave. That was far beyond him, considering that he got hated by nearly the whole village for all of his life, just because he had a demon sealed inside of him. There was no order from Hanabi that she had to comfort her. Did that meant Hinata was doing it out of free will? But wasn't being a slave meaning that you weren't allowed to have a free will at all? He just couldn't grasp and understand the situation at all, which was a reason why he hated doing nothing. And sitting here to wait for C was exactly that, doing nothing, meaning his head got time to think about the girls and their situation. He sighed quietly.

Kakashi was talking to Tazuna, mainly about the events from the day before and some ideas for the next days, considering possibilities that might or might not happen during the mission. After all, there were already two missing nins trying to kill the carpenter. And if there were two of them could there also be more. He already had slight suspicions that Tazuna wasn't exactly honest about the mission parameters, but it wasn't enough proof that he could say it straight out. That and C submitted a report about the land of Waves, judging a mission in that direction as C-rank. And his informations were quite solid and reliable. But he was following them right now...

"Heya!" C spoke up upon reaching the group, giving them a wave while getting the attention of everyone. "You sure you should rest here in the open, visible for everyone that could have an intrest in you?"

"Yo!" Kakashi waved back at him. "We were actually just making a short rest while waiting for you. There was no reason in moving on, delaying your arrival." he shrugged.

"You were expecting me? But how..." he started before his eyes fell on the girls, a grin entering his face. "Right, I nearly forgot. So you are pretty careful now, after fighting the demon brothers, keeping an eye on your surroundings, huh?"

"Wait a moment." Tazuna spoke wary. "How comes that you know about that? That wasn't even 12 hours ago... It ain't really possible for you to know about that, unless you are involved in the incident!"

"..." C was looking at Tazuna with slight disbelief on his face before adressing Kakashi again. "I know that he's the villages client, but... think I could gag him and his unqualified speaking for now?"

"Well, 'fraid not, but kinda tempting." Kakashi pondered aloud.

"Unqualified..." Tazuna started before shaking his head. "I'm just speaking the truth!"

"Right... because there wasn't a 'special delivery' to the village of Konoha this morning. You know, the village from which I departed this morning as well in order to catch up to you." C rolled his eyes. "And it wasn't hard to figure out that you were fighting the demon brothers, considering that the delivery guy is on my paylist and the cage being used belongs to me. And there's just one exemplar I gave away, which is in the possession of the little one over there." That was enough for Tazuna to shut up, crossing his arms over his chest, still eyeing the newcomer warily.

"Reminds me, how the hell did you manage to get him to do the delivery? From the fragments he was speaking to himself did it sound like he ran into you, huh?" he asked curious, his focus shifting to the girls. A slight smirk entered his face as he took the image of the girls in. It looked super cute - in a totally kinky mistress and pet way. Just that he knew that the pet was currently petting the mistress and not the other way around.

Hanabi wasn't even trying to get up from her sisters lap, simply looking back at C from her position, an innocent smile on her lips. "I just asked him nicely to do it." she spoke with a dead serious voice.

Chuckling to himself was C shaking his head. "Yeah, right, you didn't. Not him. Was it really that embarassing?" he grinned at the girl who averted her eyes, a small blush entering her face. "Okay, I won't push it. But nice use of the cage anyway."

"So, are you going to tell us why you are here?" Kakashi asked, getting C's attention back to himself.

"Ah, right. See, we... I mean you got a big problem." C started cryptically.

"Really now?" Naruto decided to enter the conversation, giving C an annoyed look. "You think we didn't realize that ourselfs after being attacked by these two missing nins?"

"Well, no, I mean, yes, I mean..." C looked at Naruto before switching to Tazuna and finally settling for Kakashi. "See, Spooky, the brothers were just B-ranked missing nins. They aren't the big problem. It's the person they are working for."

Raising an eyebrow was Kakashi pondering his friend for a moment before sighing. "Okay, you are normally straight forward with your informations. So could you get to the point? I'm starting to get worried here..."

"Fine... I misjudged the situation. That Gato guy? Also hired missing nins, as you already found out. And the demon brothers are working for the Demon of the Mist. In addition are his areas of business pretty similiar to the ones of the Organization, meaning that they are either involved or will appear here very soon. You thought it was a C-rank mission? Well, I was wrong this time. It's an A-rank." C was pretty calm during his explanation. He was angry at the inside about himself for having made a mistake, but he wasn't showing it on the outside.

Finally pushing herself out of Hinata's lap was Hanabi sitting up straight, looking at C with slight fear on her face. "Wait, you are saying the Organization is involved? I... we... don't want to be captured by them again..." she said quietly, getting an agreeing nod from Hinata.

"An A-rank, huh? Kinda cool, I guess..." Naruto pondered aloud, a grin entering his face. "If we manage to pull that off will we be the best of the new genin teams, right?"

Kakashi raised his eyebrow. "The Demon? Really? That's bad news... Any word from the Hokage? And what about you? Staying to assist us?"

Shrugging his shoulders was C's answer pretty vague. "Ah, well, I want to stay under the radar. If they learn I'm out here... might get complicated not just for me but all of us. Boss man said it's up to you whether or not you are going to continue the mission. And if yes am I supposed to get you some first hand informations from inside the country. Also he said I'm your expert for the Organization, but don't expect me to fight. Really don't want them to find out that I'm still alive and with Konoha now."

"I understand. What's your guess on the Organization?" Kakashi asked, his eye scanning the reactions of Tazuna.

"If it's their operation most likely some of the stronger members to supervise it. Worst case? They aren't involved but will show up for a hostile takeover or to get rid of the competition. In that case might we have to deal with Her or some of the other ones in lead. Probably J or maybe someone I don't know, if they replaced me." he shrugged at the end.

Tazuna was visibly gulping on all the informations he just got, sweat running down his face. He flinched slightly when Kakashi spoke to him. "Alright, when were you going to tell us that the situation is far worse in your country than you told us in the first place?"

"I... didn't knew about most of these things..." Tazuna said quietly, his eyes looking everywhere but at Kakashi. "I mean, okay, I heard that Gato had hired someone strong, but that's all. Really!"

Everyone kept silent for some time, thinking about different things. It was Kakashi who broke the silence. "Yo, C, got any informations on the Demon you could share?"

"Nothing worth mentioning I guess. The bingo book is stating the demon brothers affilated to him, but you already got rid of them. That's al-... wait a moment..." a thought flashed in the back of his mind. One that seemed somehow important, one he couldn't really grasp. "Wait... he was working for us, around three years ago. There was something... like... hmmm..."

"You know the Demon?" Kakashi asked, clearly showing intrest.

"Yup. He was indebted to us back then and worked it off." C nodded, thinking it over. "Right! He had a slave with him. A talented kid, able to use the Ice Style. Stuff like freezing mist and whatnot. Where's water could the kid create ice. And since there's water in the air..."

"An Ice Style user enslaved to the Demon? Most likely a surviving kid from the bloodline purge in Kiri. If it would only be the Demon... but now a talented kid with a bloodline? Difficult." Kakashi was thinking aloud, his mind being deep in thought.

Having listened into the conversation was Hanabi letting out a loud scream, when realization finally hit her, all eyes shifting to her, most of them filled with worry. "Being able to freeze the mist? Three years ago?" she spoke out loud, fear written all over her face and within her voice. "They captured us that way... Spooky, I don't want to continue this mission. I refuse, I decline. There's just no way!" she squeaked out, tears welling up in her eyes, the memories from that day coming back to her, the trauma from back then sneaking back into her mind.

"What's with her?" Tazuna asked worried, but was being ignored by everyone right now.

"Ah, yes, right, I remember." C hit his own forehead with the palm of his hand. "How could I forget our first meeting? You are right about that." he started to laugh, getting an angry glare from Hanabi that somehow looked cute, with the tears in her eyes.

Hinata was watching her sister with mixed feelings before pulling her close into a hug. Running her hands gently over her body to comfort her was her head focusing on Kakashi. "You think it would help her overcome the trauma if we continue?" she asked carefully.

Shrugging his shoulders was Kakashi's answer unexpected. "Well, we all have things on our minds. The question is just if we can learn to deal with them. I'm no expert on this topic, so, maybe yes, maybe not."

"If it might help Hanabi-chan would I say we continue." Naruto said determined and got a nod from Hinata to back him up.

Nodding as well was Kakashi adressing Tazuna. "Seems like you got lucky and we will continue our mission, even with the new informations available to us. But it will have consequences, just that you know." and turning to C was he adding. "Yo, hope you enjoy being out of the village now. Welcome to our circus group."

"Circus group?" C asked with skepticism in his voice.

"Yeah. Tazuna came up with it when we first met. We already have an orange clown, a brat, a lovey-dovey couple, a mistress and her slave, a cyclop, a ghost and with you also a slave trader and card trickster."

Thinking about it for a moment was C starting to grin. "Well, sounds like a hell of a show. And that old man is the director, huh?" he looked over to Tazuna who felt a shiver run down his spine. "But as said, don't expect me to get active. I'll keep to the background."

And with these words was the group starting to continue there way. Hanabi was wiping her tears away, quietly sobbing from time to time, not too fond of facing the Ice Style owner again. Hinata and Naruto were both supporting her at each of her side, trying to be there for her. C was getting the details so far from Kakashi and Tazuna followed with his head hanging, pondering about if hiring some shinobi to assist his bridge building was a wise idea or not.

XXXXX

 _ **Authors Note:**_ Heya, just wanted to inform you that I'm most likely going to reduce my writing a bit in the near future to focus on an important course I'm doing for my company. Gotta need to pass it and with that is it needing some more of my focus, getting priority.

If you haven't seen it yet: I posted a new "story" in which I'm putting alternate scenes from time to time, when I feel like writing them (I did mention that last chapter already, didn't I? Ah well, can't hurt). So far are there two scenes, one for chapter 19, one for chapter 25. Feel free to have a look, if you are intrested. I also added some informations on them about why I wrote them and what I thought there. Enjoy!


	28. Chapter 27 - To work in Wave

**_Authors Note:_** Heya, am back, somewhat. The good thing first: my course is finished and all that's left is the practical exam. Am sure that I'll pass, though. The bad thing is, that I'm somewhat out of my rhythm, not having written at all lately. You could say I need to warm up now first to get back into it.

Well, here's the next chapter. It's mainly story and it's somewhat shorter than my averages. Am not feeling too good currently (weather/health and work's stressful) which is why I cut the chapter where I did. Not completely happy with the overall outcome, but it's still okay, I guess.  
Tried to also build in some humorous stuff (I think C's always a good character to brighten up the mood a little) and I also grazed the more kinky side of my choosen topic on purpose. Not sure yet, but maybe (just maybe) will I write an advancing, additional scene for it to put into the other place.

So, yeah, as usual: hope you enjoy reading my newest crazyness and feel free to tell me your thoughts. Think the short-term direction is pretty obvious now - but I'm already that far away from the original... I'm sure I can surprise you with the upcomming events ;-)

XXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 27: To work within Wave  
**

He felt good. Yes, he wasn't doing it during the last three years, but this was a situation he felt most comfortable with. After all, if there was one thing he's good at is it his work as a spy and to gather informations out in the field. Sure, he had a pretty effective, wide spread network working for him, but nothing beat doing it himself. A smile crossed his face. Life wasn't as bad at all to him. There was no need to worry about his allys trying to kill him, no need to worry about money, he did currently have a good position, no doubt about it.

Yes, life was indeed good to him. He had friends, people who cared about him, people he got along with. And that was before even mentioning the girls. The girls... he couldn't explain it, but he enjoyed spending time with them. It might just be curiosity from his side, to see how the girls would grow up with the situation they found themself into. Maybe it was a feeling of having a family he doesn't have, they could be his kids based on the age. Or it was the simple fact that he could pass his knowledge along. He wasn't too sure about, but life was indeed good to him.

A smirk crossed his face at these thoughts, followed by some growls and groans coming from around him. "I hate you!" a man sitting at the same table stated, looking at the smirk. "You really trying to rip us off here, aren't ya?"

"Huh? Nah, just thought about something enjoyable, that's all." C answered with a feigned innocent smile to the man he currently was playing cards with.

When the group around Tazuna decided to take another break during the evening, the distance to his village not that big anymore, did C decide to go ahead and to gather some informations on the situation. That is what he is good at and that actually is his mission right now. To provide intel to his comrades, to support them on their mission out in the Land of Waves. And what better way for that than to enter a bar and playing cards with some locals. Some gambling, some alcohol, and people usually started talking.

Another smile crossed his face at that last thought. It was simply convenient that his passion was all around playing cards and card tricks. Whoever stated that work, passion and hobbies were unable to match together was simply a fool. "So, what was it you said about an auction? I got some money to spare, might have a look on it then." he spoke casually about it, folding with his current hand to avoid the people sitting at the table to get angry after misinterpreting his smirk.

It was... intresting how quick he managed to get useful informations this time. He only entered the bar like 30 minutes ago and started playing cards 20 minutes ago. He sat together with two men and a woman, all of them around their late twenties he guessed. One of the men, the one that spoke before, wasn't wearing any kind of shirt, showing his muscled upper body, and the scars on it, around. He had a rather massive sword leaning next to him at the table and seemed to be able to use it. He clearly had experience, but judged with the experience C had was it clear to him that this was just a simple mercenary.

"I don't think that you are intrested in it anymore once you lost your spare money to me today." that man shot back, his face sporting a wide grin now.

"And here he goes again, charging head on into a situation he is unable to judge..." the female shook her head and sighed, looking at her companion with slight annoyance. She knew that he was reliable in battle, in fact did he save her life a few times already, but as a human? Not the best company. "Besides, you know that you can't beat me at cards. Why do you think that _you_ will get his money?"

The woman was nothing special at all. She looked rather plain, her figure a good average, her hair tied into a ponytail reaching down to her neck. Though she sported two things that let her stand out from any group she would be easily overseen within, if these things weren't present. The first were countless sheaths attached all over her outfit, each holding a knife. Some were at her legs, inside and outside, some at her waist, several were lined up across her chest and another few were located at her arms. And that were just the visible ones. She surely had even more hidden blades within her outfit.

The second thing, that was even more noticeable, was the scar across her right eye, prove of her being more than just a plain woman and having seen her fair share of battles as well. "Though if you really are intrested..." her focus changed on C. "I don't see a reason to not inform you. After all, it's pretty much common knowledge anyway. The boss decided to do an auction later this month, selling the products to anyone who is intrested and can afford them."

"Yeah, sure, just tell this stranger that we are involved with a criminal that is selling kids and women to who knows whom as slaves. That's so genius from you." the last man growled out, looking angrily at the woman.

She in return simply shrugged. "You do realize that I wasn't saying anything about it and that you are the one that just gave that information away, right?" she stated calmly, but rolled her eyes at that anyway. Sometimes she did wonder why she was staying with these two, but she couldn't deny their long friendship and that they knew how to handle themselfs in a fight.

"Huh?" the man looked at her confused. "Wait, what? I did?" He raised his hand to the back of his neck and scratched him there, brushing with his fingers along the hilt of the katana strapped to his back to confirm that it indeed still was there. "Uhm... sorry about that?"

"All good, all good!" C started laughing, raising his hands defensive. "In fact, yes, it does intrest me and I'm sure I'll have enough money left for when the day comes. But hey, let's just enjoy ourselfs here, shall we? The night is still young. So let's play and drink and forget about the world for now, shall we?"

Yup, life was good indeed. And another time did luck prove to be on his side, giving him three willing mercenaries that, and he was sure about this, would most likely tell him everything he wanted to know about the leader of the thugs, Gato. And about the upcomming slave auction - heck, it felt like ages that he was on one. If nothing else would he really pay it a visit for a change. Maybe even something about the Demon working for Gato. There just were so many things he wanted to know, and he was sure, given enough time he actually had this night, that they would tell him everything.  
Not to mention the money he was going to win from them. Though, that was just a perk of that situation.

A certain weapon shop inside Konoha

She was bored. The day was way too long for her liking and work kept itself pretty low. She could count the customers she had today on one hand and the next mission with her team was not in sight yet. Leaning herself on the counter and supporting her head on her arms was she sighing, looking out of the shop window into the setting dusk. At least was she able to close the shop soon, even so she wasn't too sure what she would do with the rest of her evening.

Being deep in thought after that slow day did she fail to realize the bell of the door and the woman who entered the store, walking straight up to the counter. Looking at the spaced out expression of the girl leaning on the counter was the woman getting an evil smirk before speaking up. "Well, what do we have here? A naughty girl slacking off on the job, huh? What would the owner say if he would learn about it, Tenten- _chan_?" she basicly purred the name suffix close to the girls ear.

Tenten, being startled by that sudden voice speaking to her, was shooting up from the counter, a kunai already in her hand - working at a weapon shop had his perks after all - looking with an expression between anger and surprise at the woman that managed to catch her off guard. Her eyes went wide once realization hit her, lowering the kunai. "Well, guess I should be glad that you like me too much to tell him, huh?" a faint smile crossed her face. "So, why are you here today, Anko? Don't tell me you already need new stuff? I just supplied you three weeks ago! Or are you going to tell me new stories about C?"

There was a glint in Tenten's eyes, a glint Anko knew too well. It was a glint that always appeared when Tenten was confronted with one of the two topics intresting her the most, weapons and... "Nah, 'fraid not..." Anko said absent mindly, waving her in a way to signal her a 'no'. "I'm just bored. C got a super important hush hush mission and left the village for who knows how long. So I thought I would simply go and visit my favorite soulmate."

"Ah, yeah, that sucks, huh?" Tenten nodded in understanding. "I can see why you are bored then. Well, I got nothing planned for this evening, so I guess I can keep you some company. Just let me close the shop, okay?" she wasn't even waiting for a reply and was already on her way to lock up the door.

"Ayup. And not in the enjoyable way at all. It just sucks." Anko confirmed. "Though, I'm sure we will get great stories once they are back in the village." a grin entered her face.

"They?" Tenten asked, looking back to Anko while double checking that the door was indeed locked now. "With whom is C on a mission than? Would have guessed that he would work alone?"

"Oh, you haven't heard yet?" Anko basicly purred, letting Tenten perk up with expectation. "C's on his way to support our favorite sisters on their mission."

Now _that_ got her attention. "Hanabi-chan and Hinata-chan are on a mission? Is she...? And do they...? Does she...?" her thoughts were running wild and she wasn't able to form a coherent question at that moment. She would never admit it to someone, beside the fact that Anko knew, but she got totally intrested about the Hyuga sisters when she heard the slavery rumours for the first time, back these years. And when Hanabi entered the store to order that collar, it was a great day for Tenten indeed.

Anko was unable to hide her grin. Hook, line and sinker. She got Tenten right where she wanted the girl. "Well, I might feel gracious and tell you what I know about the girls. He did tell me quite the intresting things lately." she chuckled at the look Tenten was giving her. The girl knew what was coming her way, but these informations were worth it in her opinion. "Though... I think I would like some sort of compensation for that." Anko stated thoughtfully, touching her lower lip, pretending to think about it.

...and there it was. Yes, Tenten knew that was going to come the moment Anko mentioned the sisters, but to be honest, she didn't mind it too much. The day really was slow, she was bored just like Anko and she had nothing planed at all. That, and it was quite some while that she got together with someone sharing her intrests. She let her head hang for a moment, but basicly just to hide the smile that entered her face at the same time, before looking back up at the woman watching her expectantly. "I'm sure that you will be pleased with the compensation... mistress." she spoke with a submissive tune to her voice.

Ankos smile was a pleased one. When she decided on a whim to visit Tenten was it really just to kill some time, to kill her boredom. Getting something to eat and chat about things, that was her plan. To change it was a sudden decision when she saw Tenten being in a similiar bored state as herself. "Well, now that's a good girl. I did choose a good student after all."

Tenten grimaced at that comment, but kept quiet. She knew that learning by experience was the best learning. And learning from the best, like Anko, was always worth the effort. Besides, and she really couldn't deny it, that was so much better than being the evening all alone with basicly nothing to do.

A village in the Land of Waves

It was already getting dark when the group around Tazuna finally arrived at his home, the streets of the village nearly empty. The shinobi sure did realize the difference to the lively streets of Konoha around this time, but they kept quiet for now. After all did you never know who might or might not listen on you. They could ask about it later as well, once they were in the safety of their clients home.

He was closing the entrance door behind him, leading his escort towards a table in the living room, signaling them to sit down. Doing as told were the shinobi watching him leave, starting to speak to each other. "Man, that village is nothing compared to Konoha. Did you see how empty the streets are?" Naruto asked casually, speaking out loud what was on everyone's mind.

"I guess it's safe to assume that this has something to do with this Gato guy supressing the citizens." Kakashi explained calm. "But you are right that. To see a village like that is always... depressing."

"But it's not just the village. This house... it's so big, but totally quiet. You think he's living alone?" Hanabi, having calmed down a little while the day advanced, spoke up intrested. She may not particular like their client, but it was their client after all and getting some information about him was essential after all.

Tazuna came back at this moment, bringing something for them to drink and placing it on the table. "I'm living here with my daughter and grandson, but they won't be coming back before tomorrow. I'll show you to your rooms later." he answered the girls question before focusing on Kakashi. "And the work on the bridge will continue in three days. So if there is anything you want to do during that time, will I not object to it."

Hearing these words did all genin suddenly perk up, looking at Kakashi with expectation written all over their faces. Seeing that reaction was he giving a weak smile back at them. "Well, I suppose we can use this time to get some training done..." he started, but got quickly interrupted by three cheerful kids. Letting out a quiet sigh was he raising his voice before speaking the next word. "However..." and as quick as the kids became loud did it die down again. "I'll decide on what you three will learn. And Hanabi, for you will it be chakra control."

Crossing her arms over her chest was said girl pouting. She understood that she needed to do it, but that doesn't meant that she was happy about that boring training. "Damned..." she said quietly, giving Kakashi a glare in return.

The other two looked at him curiously, waiting for what he had in store for them. He took some time to think about what he knew about his genin team before speaking up again. "Say... what are you three able to do on the defensive? You know, for blocking enemy jutsu and that stuff. Our mission is to protect Tazuna and his workers, after all."

Now that got the kids by surprise. They were so focused on learning new jutsu and that stuff that they didn't expect Kakashi to bring up this topic. Naruto was the first to get out of his surprise and to talk up. "I can block stuff with my staff. You know, spinning it quickly like a windmill. Ino-chan helped me train with it first by using buckets full of water, then by attacking me with her Fire Style."

Kakashi nodded slightly to that information. "Ah, right. You did that during my genin test. I would like to see it a bit more tomorrow. Would be bad if you showed me now inside the house."

"Thanks for your consideration..." Tazuna mumbled quietly under his breath before getting up from the table and going back into the kitchen to grab some snacks for them all.

"...the Earth Walls..." was all Hanabi said quietly, the frustration of having to do chakra control excersises still present.

"Until the point they fell you because of chakra exhaustion, yes." Kakashi agreed, once again bringing up the topic why Hanabi had to do chakra control first. "And what about you, Hinata?"

A small blush entered her face, before she let her shoulders hang. "I... don't have any defensive abilities, Kakashi-sensei." she admitted quietly. "I mean, I know that water can be used as a wall and such, but... I'm still not there at all."

"True enough..." he pondered aloud, nodding slightly. "We have to do something about that, but I don't think that three days will be nearly enough for that."

"What about the thing you did against my stones?" Hanabi asked her sister, remembering their training session shortly before the genin tests. "I mean, you used our Gentle Fist to destroy a lot and all. Your movements were pretty fluid as well."

"But... that was nothing, really. I barely acted on instinct there. When I saw them coming at me, realizing that I couldn't dodge them..." she shook her head, doubting that this move back then was anything useful.

Kakashi however seemed to think otherwise. "Hmm, considering you can see your surroundings using the Byakugan... I would really like to see that in action tomorrow as well. Maybe did you do something intresting and promising there without even noticing. If I understand it right might we be able to work with that. We'll see."

All Hinata did was nod to that, not thinking that it would be useful at all. But maybe, if Kakashi was right about that, if she used her Gentle Fist in a way none of her clan had ever thought about - that thought left a positive feeling inside of her.

"It isn't much, but please, have something to eat." Tazuna said, carrying some snacks and crackers into the living room, placing them on the table.

"Thanks for that. Say..." Kakashi smiled slightly below his mask. "Is there a place we can use for some training tomorrow? Would be useful if it were away from prying eyes. We don't want to give away our presence or skills to the enemy too quickly after all."

Thinking about it for a moment was Tazuna nodding slightly. "Well, you noticed that my house is located on the outskirts, right? Saw the forest nearby when we arrived? Nobody ever goes inside because most are fishers. I'm sure you could train there without being interrupted or spotted."

"Sounds good. Alright, we got a plan for tomorrow. But for now, thanks for your hospitality. Let's eat a bit and go to bed early, that we can start the day early as well." and with that did the group start to snack a little, doing a bit of smalltalk, before soon calling it a day. Now would the hard part of their mission begin...

The next morning

"Alright, let's get this training started." Kakashi spoke to his team. They were currently standing on a clearing within the forest after having a light breakfast at Tazunas house. The carpenter assured them that he would be safe at home and that they could go train to their hearts content. He was well aware that his and the life of his workers depended on these four shinobi he hired and with that was he of course fine with them getting some more training before it would get serious.

"So... what do we do now?" Hanabi asked curious. "I mean, you basicly have different things for everyone of us, so... how do you intent of doing that?"

Raising an eyebrow was Kakashi looking at the girl as if to ask if she was unable to see what he had in store for them. "Simple. Hanabi, first you will use your Rain of Stones jutsu and attack your teammates. Try to keep it up without wasting too much chakra. As for Naruto and Hinata, you two will defend yourselfs against it. I want to see both your defensive moves as I already told you yesterday."

Looking from one genin to the next was he raising his headband to reveal his left eye, sporting a Sharingan. "And I will study your movements using this to figure out what can be changed or improved. Ready? And go!" he shouted the last part, making a jump backwards on a low hanging branch to watch his students. Naruto was the first to react and had his staff already in his hands, the segments loosened and ready, before Hanabi even started on her handsigns.

Both her and Hinata activated their Byakugans at the same time with Hinata entering their clans fighting stance while Hanabi finished her handsigns. She had a slight smirk on her lips when she announced her jutsu. "Earth Style: Rain of Stones!" she shouted, Naruto and Hinata being high on guard and ready - just that nothing was happening.

"Huh?" Naruto asked confused, lowering his staff a bit. "Uhm... weren't you supposed to attack us?" he looked at Hanabi before looking around, a frown entering his face. "Wait... we are on a meadow in the middle of a forest. There are no stones here, right?" he asked, becoming even more confused when Hanabi's smirk turned into a grin.

"Watch out, Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted, but Naruto reacted too late. It took some time for the first stone to fly, because Hanabi wasn't aiming for the few ones laying between the grass, but for the ones being slightly buried below it. Hinata saw it coming with her Byakugan, but Naruto was totally unprepared when the first one, coming out of the ground, hit him dead center on his chest.

"Damn it! That ain't fair!" Naruto shouted, quickly bringing his staff back up and starting to spin it like a windmill, to deflect the next oncomming stones.

Sitting on his branch was Kakashi watching the scene. He was surprised that Hanabi actually managed to confuse her opponents by slightly delaying her jutsu, but he knew that this delay might also result in her or her teammates die. "We are shinobi, Naruto." he spoke up. "We ain't playing fair. The faster you learn that, the more you got a chance for surviving."

Taking a solid stand was Naruto doing his best to deflect the stones that increased in number, twisting his upper body slightly left and right to move his defense in a particular direction. All things considered was he able to defend himself that way in a good 180 degree, but would have problems if attacks came from multiple directions or from behind him. His defense was pretty static, Kakashi noticed, but it worked for concentrated attacks.

Naruto realized the same, when he got suddenly hit by stones flying from behind him, that he never even got a chance to see in the first place. He growned out in pain, but stood defensive nonetheless, taking the few hits to his back without flinching too much. He knew that he had to take hits if needed, to protect his friends and other important people.

"Don't forget about your sister." Kakashi spoke in the direction of Hanabi, noticing that she was completely focused on Naruto right now. That could kill her as well, in a serious situation. Though he was aware that the girl most likely got an eye on everything around her, being able to see everything with her Byakugan. Still, to ignore just one opponent might be a fatal mistake.

All she did was a slight nod to show that she got the order and concentrated more chakra into her jutsu, starting to fire stones at her sister as well. Deciding to challenge her was she going all out from the beginning, using stones from all around her sister right away.

Hinata however was prepared and, not like Naruto, was she able to see every single stone coming her way. She started by dodging and sidestepping the first stones, but soon did the number increase and she had no choice but to defend herself against the jutsu of her sister. Channeling chakra into her hands was she soon starting to do small movements of her hands in the direction of the single stones, releasing a small amount of chakra to destroy them before they were able to hit her.

At first wasn't she able to hit them all, still sidestepping and dodging, somewhat dancing on the clearing between the flying stones. In fact was she getting hit by a few stones as well, the amount simply being too much for her to handle. But with enough practice...

Feeling another stone hitting her arm let her growl in frustration and she managed to increase her speed a little, starting to hit nearly every stone she couldn't dodge. Naruto hadn't time to watch her, still defending himself to the best of his ability against the flying stones. But if he was honest to himself did he got way too much hits into the back. If this were real weapons, he would be most likely unable to fight anymore.

Hanabi and Kakashi on the other side had all the time they needed to watch Hinata's dance with awe. Hanabi saw it before once, but she had to admit that now, being able to see it that close, for that high amount of time, was quite impressive. Her sister simply was beautiful while doing... whatever she did there. The young girl wasn't even able to find a word for what she saw her sister doing right now.

Realizing the state Naruto was in and seeing how good Hinata was doing was Kakashi nodding to himself in appreciation. These genin had a bright future, if they will survive this mission that is. "Alright, focus completely on Hinata. Naruto can take a rest." he spoke calmly, his eye focusing Hinata as well.

Naruto sighed in relief when the stones flying his way stopped and quickly took some steps away to give his teammate more space to move. It was now that he saw Hinatas dance and he was bewitched right away, unable to keep his eyes from the girl.

Already starting to pant was Hanabi nodding again, directing all she had at her sister. She knew that she was wasting her chakra again, feeling it deplete pretty quick, but right now was that the goal, wasn't it? To try her best to not waste too much while continueing to attack her sister, while her sister was showing off her defensive abilities. No, she wouldn't let her sensei or sister down.

A loud female scream was heard and echoing through the forest, when Hanabi focused the last of her chakra into the still ongoing attack. That scream was followed by a surprised yelp from Hinata, when the amount and speed of stones suddenly increased, now effectively forcing her backwards. She was still able to dodge and destroy a good amount of stones, but she grew tired already and had to take more hits by now.

"Watch out!" Naruto shouted to her with worry in his voice, seeing that Hinata was moving backwards towards a large tree at the edge of the clearing, which would most likely be the end of her dance. Once she would ran out of space to maneuver...

She was aware of the tree in her back. She could see everything around her after all using her Byakugan. The moment she reached it was she doing two small and slow steps backwards _up_ the tree without having any trouble, without falling, before using it as an object to jump from, to get away from the stones flying her way. The idea wasn't bad, but proved to be a failure in the end, when she got hit by multiple stones in the air that she just couldn't dodge.

"Sis!" Hanabi shouted in shock, having stopped her jutsu already to avoid her sister getting hurt too much by sending more stones her way. But that didn't stop all the stones that were already flying her way...

At the village

"Eh, it's morning already?" C wondered aloud, just having left the bar he entered the evening before. "Didn't realize we were playing cards for _that_ long. Though it would explain why your scarred friend fell asleep. That and all that alcohol."

"Dohhn't wohhrry ahhbout him..." the man with katana said during a long yawn. "He's playing all tough, but he can't handle alcohol, you know?". After stretching his body was he turning to walk away. "Anyway, I gotta need some sleep. Cya 'round!" he gave C a wave over his shoulder while walking away.

"So..." the woman purred into his ear, clinging at his arm. "Wanna come over to my place to find out where exactly I have hidden knives on my body? And I could search for aaaalllllll of your hidden cards too." she drawled the word 'all' out extremely.

"Don't say you are angry that I emptied your friends purses?" he laughed warmly before pulling out a single card from one of his hidden decks and showed it to the woman. "Besides, why would the queen of spades need any other cards?"

Snatching the card from C's hand was she slightly giggling, her mind a bit clouded from being tired and the alcohol she drank. "You know how to charm a girl, huh? So... wanna join me now or not?" she asked again, trailing her finger over his chest.

Before he got the chance to answer however did he feel a shiver run down his spine. Looking into the direction his instinct told him was he surprised, and cursed his bad luck at the same moment, when his eyes fell on Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist, who looked straight back at him, having stopped his walk. Both were professionals, none of them showing any reaction or emotion, but both did remember the other quite good, despite it being 3 years already that they 'worked' together.

"You..." Zabuza spoke quietly, taking a few more steps towards C and the woman clinging on his arm. Having heard someone else talking was the woman finally turning her head as well, her eyes falling on Zabuza as well.

The state she was in wasn't enough to stop her brain from realizing the person that appeared and she put a weak smile on. "Oh, the Demon. Don't worry, I'm off duty, all's good here." she spoke in explanation, thinking that Zabuza adressed her just now.

Taking a second look of the woman was Zabuza actually remembering her. Not her name though, no, but he remembered her and her two companions as being decently useful in battle. "I'm not talking to you..." Zabuza said quietly, a slight tune of warning in his voice. "But you would be wise to just leave now."

Blinking her eyes a few times was she looking back at C. " _You_ know the Demon? Who did you say you are?" she blinked again, trying to comprehend the information she was just getting.

"Uh, yeah, somewhat. It's been a while, huh?" he gave Zabuza a weak smile before adressing the woman. "But he's right. You should really leave now."

"And here I thought I would have found someone nice to keep me company..." she half whined while detaching herself from C. "Stupid idiot..." she mumbled the last words before giving C a quick seductive smile, putting the card she was still holding in one of her pockets and walked away, quietly cursing about the Demon ruining her fun.

As soon as the mercenary woman was gone did both men turn towards the nearest side alley and started walking over to it in complete silence, both of them knowing that what was to come next should have no witnesses if possible. Zabuza, annoyed at this reminder of his time working off the debt he had with the Organization, C worried about his cover being blown right away. The only positive thing was that Zabuza couldn't have any knowledge about his affiliation with Konoha, meaning that his comrades were safe for now - but being seen by someone who knows him and his connection to the Organization, even if in the past, was just as bad.

"What are you doing here?" Zabuza asked right away, his voice like ice and without trying to hide his annoyance.

"Business." C shrugged, trying to be as vague as possible. "You do remember the things we got our hands in, right?" An angry growl left Zabuzas throat but he was nodding slightly in response. "See? So why are you surprised, considering that this Gato is doing just the same?"

"So you aren't here because you tracked me down? You aren't trying to sell my slave again? And you think that I'll believe you just like that?" he was drawing his unique sword from his back. "Maybe I should just end you right here, right now, just to be sure about it."

"Eh, it was just business. You had a debt and it would have been the easiest way to get it paid. But you worked it off in the end, so all's good." C shrugged without even flinching at the sword directed at him. He just hoped that Zabuza didn't have any contact with the Organization within the last three years. If he would bring something up that he was unable to have knowledge about, for being with Konoha all this time, would he be done for.

His eyes were focusing C for some time, waiting to catch just a glimpse of movement, to give him an excuse to just cut the guy up. But to his disappointment was C not making any move at all. "...fine." Zabuza spoke finally, putting his sword back on his back. "If you stay away from us will I not interfere with your work here. To be honest, I couldn't care less what you guys have planned here or what you want to do to Gato. Just stay away from me and my slave!"

The last words were spoken with a warning tune and Zabuza wasn't waiting for any kind of response, simply leaving the side alley. There was just no reason for him to stay longer in the presence of this eel. He don't wanted to have anything to do with him at all.

C took a deep breath once Zabuza was gone. He was reliefed that his cover wasn't blown and that the Demon wasn't too much concerned or suspicious. Plus this encounter solied his observation of the Organization not being involved with the local thug managing this whole mess. Still, that didn't meant that they wouldn't show up eventually to deal with the situation, that much was certain to him.

He pondered about his options for now. Either track down the woman that got scared away, it wouldn't be too hard considering she still got his card after all, or heading back to Kakashi to inform him about the things he learned. Shaking his head and sighing did he decide that his duty came first. Though he hoped that he would get another shot at the woman before hell would eventually break loose in this village.

Inside the forest

Hinata woke up to the loud curses of her teammates. Slowly sitting up was her body protesting, sending pain from everywhere to her brain. That quickly reminded her why she was out cold in the first place. How she demonstrated her idea, her defensive use of the Gentle Fist, to her sensei and ended up being hit by countless projectiles from her sister. She was seriously doubting if her defense was any good at all.

"Finally awake, huh?" Kakashi spoke up next to her, startling the girl. Moving her head to look over to where her sensei's voice came from was she met by one of his usual smiles behind his mask. "You were out for nearly an hour, you know?"

Shaking her head to get her thoughts straight was she processing that information. "I... was? So it wasn't any good at all..." she said quietly, letting her head hang.

Raising his visible eyebrow was Kakashi chuckling. "Not good? I thought your dance was really impressive. With a bit more training, with higher speed and precision, am I sure that you could defend yourself against weapon and even elemental jutsu without problems."

"You really think so?" Hinata asked surprised, looking at Kakashi before their talk was interrupted by another loud curse from Naruto. "Uhm... what are they doing there?"

"Tree climbing. I got the idea to let them train on it while watching you. You took two steps up the tree without even trying, before you made your jump and got knocked out by all these stones. Being mid-air makes you a good target because of your reduced possibilities to dodge." Kakashi explained to the girl. "It's a good excersise for chakra control and an essential skill for any shinobi. Two goals at once."

A drawn out shriek from Hanabi interrupted their talk before she too cursed again, having landed on her ass after having lost hold on the tree branch by loosing concentration on the chakra flow into her feet. "Do I have to do that too?" Hinata asked curious.

"Either that or, if you really are able to do that already, we might work on your defensive Gentle Fist. I can only repeat myself, it was impressive."

"So you think I invented a useful way to use my clans style?" there was a slight tune of happyness in her voice, the thought of having come up with a use for that style, none of her clan had ever thought about before, warming her heart.

"I do." was all Kakashi answered before gesturing to a tree next to his other genin, signaling Hinata that it was her turn to try walking up a tree. Her turn to show whether or not if she was able to do so or if it happened just because of the situation she was in during her training, that she did right without thinking when she reached the tree before. To show whether or not she was able to do it again or if she needed to train it as well.

Hinata nodded in understanding and got up from the ground, walking over to her teammates to join them in their tree climbing training. Naruto was currently sitting in front of his tree, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down a bit and to build up his concentration again. Seeing his friend awake brought a smile on his face and he gave her a wave which she returned, smiling herself.

Having seen that movement out of the corner of her eyes was Hanabi looking over to see for herself. "Sis!" she shouted, seeing her sister on her feet again easing some of her guilty thoughts. However, the whole turned out to be a mistake, canceling her concentration. Considering that she was currently walking up the tree again, determined to get past the first third of it, did it result in yet another failure, sending her straight back to the ground. She grumbled to herself, rubbing her ass on which she landed again.

The image brought a smile on Hinatas face and she couldn't help but to giggle. "Maybe you will think twice now before threatening me with a spanking?" she asked her mistress. It was meant as a joke, but it hit Hanabi pretty hard. It wasn't hard for Hinata to read her sister. She knew that Hanabi had self-doubts because of her aggressive outbursts against her. Put that on top on the trauma still haunting her younger sister...

Knowing what to do was she pulling her sister up from the ground and into a hug. "I'm not mad at you. We were training and I simply wasn't good enough." she told sister soothingly, stroking her over the head.

"You... really okay, Sis?" Hanabi asked cautious, a single tear forming in her eye.

Giving her a gentle smile was Hinata poking her sisters nose. "Of course, silly. It needs way more to get rid of me." she couldn't help but to smile even wider, figuring that fragments of her dominant and mischievious side just reached her surface. "Now, let your sis show you how to walk up a tree. Better watch carefully and learn."

"Okay." Hanabi said nodding. "Thanks sis... but don't disappoint me, okay?" a smile entered her face as well, some of her usual happyness having returned. At least enough for now to do a suggestive statement like that on their unique situation.

Moving over to one of the trees was Hinata taking a deep breath before concentrating, chanelling her chakra into her feet. Her first step was slow and careful, but she could feel that the amount of chakra was right, her feet sticking to the tree. Getting confident was she taking another step, then a third. The rest of her team watched her, but she was able to not let herself get distracted by that. Her next steps followed quicker than the ones before, confidence filling her mind.

She managed to get up to slightly above half of the tree before she lost her concentration. Everything happened so fast and she couldn't tell why her concentration faded. All she could remember was the pain in her ass from the impact the moment she hit the ground. Groaning out in pain was she lifting her body up, turning around to look at her team.

"Well, it does seem like you have a good instinct, but you still need to work on keeping the output on a constant level." Kakashi commented, leaning on another tree and of course having his noose in one of his books. "So it's tree climbing for all three of you right now. Have fun."

"You managed better on your first try than I did after all my tries. Not bad, sis." Hanabi said smiling. "Alright, let's continue then. We need to learn this in order for Spooky to teach us new things."

With new motivation from Hinata's display did the other two genin get back to their own trees. They were determined to finish this training. If that was the first step of becoming stronger would they take it. Hinata managed over half on her first try, it couldn't be that hard...

Evening

All of them were beat. But on the positive side stand the fact, that all three of them managed to reach the top of the tree by simply walking up its side. It was a great help with all of their chakra control and it was a basic they needed to know, to become more effective during a battle. If you got more possibilities to move around, to dodge and escape, would you have more chances to survive after all.

"Alright, that's enough for today. I'm proud about all three of you. Honestly, I'm surprised that all of you managed to reach the goal already. Anyway, let's head back to Tazunas home." Kakashi applauded his team, a smile on his face.

"Heh, you should know by now that it's wrong to underestimate us, Spooky." Naruto spoke happyly, a smug smirk on his face. "We will become strong enough to protect every person close to us. Believe it!"

"Yeah..." Hanabi panted, her body bend forward and supported by placing her hands on her knees. "Don't think I'm giving up just because my control is bad. I'm getting better."

"True." Kakashi nodded. "But don't get too full of yourself. That will just get you killed. We should really leave, though."

Kakashi turned to walk away and both Hanabi and Naruto were following him. Only Hinata still stood there, watching their backs before speaking. "Uhm... if it's okay with you, would I like to stay and train some more..."

The group stopped at that and turned to look at the girl. "But you did the best of you three. I don't think that you need additional training for today." Kakashi stated, looking slightly curious at Hinata.

Said girl was shaking her head in reply. "I'm not planning to do additional tree walking. There's a pond nearby. I would like do a bit training on my defensive thing."

He kept silent, thinking about it. It's true that Hinata did the best on the tree walking and probably had the most chakra left for that day. And her defensive dance might be helpful during this mission. "You sure sis?" Hanabi interrupted his thoughts, basicly speaking out what was on his mind as well. "It's getting dark and you want to stay behind alone?"

"It will be okay. Nobody knows that we are here after all, right? I'll be careful, promised." Hinata tried to reassure her sister.

"Well... I guess I don't see a reason why not. But I'll leave the decision to you, Hanabi. She's yours, after all." he was shrugging slightly. Hinata did have a point that nobody knew that they were training in this forest. And she had her Byakugan and would most likely see anyone who tried to get near her.

Hanabi was biting her lower lip in thought, before slowly nodding. "...I guess it's okay. Just don't overdo it and come back to the house once you are done, okay?"

"Yes mistress, I will." Hinata said smiling. She did figure two things out by now. The first was that it wasn't too bad that her team knew the truth and that she was able to speak about it in their presence. The second was to differ the sayings from her sister into orders and not. And she knew that this was an order, to come back once finished. An order that she should follow.

"Good... see you later then, sis." a small smile was visible on Hanabis face at this moment.

After watching the group leave and staying behind alone did Hinata move a bit deeper into the forest, where she could sense the pond. It wasn't too far away and she didn't need long to reach it. Once arrived was she taking a deep breath, concentrating on her task at hand.

She knew exactly how she intended to train. In fact would it be a training for three different aspects: her defensive move, chakra control and concentration. A small smile crossed her lips when she started to do handsigns. It felt kinda nostalgic to her right now. It was her first Water Style jutsu after all. "Water Style: Bubbles." she said quietly, creating a good dozen bubbles using the water from the pond and positioned them in a loose circle around her. Next she activated her Byakugan and entered her fighting stance, before going through another set of handsigns. "Water Style: Water Needles."

It was during that exact moment that a doubt crossed her mind, if this was a good idea at all. The needles started flying her way from all directions, leaving her no room for further thoughts. All she could do was to start defending herself against her own attacks. And so she did.


	29. Chapter 28 - Chaos Arises

**C's Scouting Report: The situation within... how was this village called again?**

"Alright, I was busy and I got several useful informations for us. About that Gato guy, about the Demon, about the involvement of the Organization - who actually isn't ivolved yet - basicly about everything we need to know about. It was actually too easy. But I don't care, it's the result that counts.

So, where to start? I would say... hmm... why am I even bothering with this to begin with...?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 28: Chaos in Wave is inevitable  
**

The sound of paper being ripped and scrunched was clearly hearable echoing through Tazunas house when Kakashi entered it with Hanabi and Naruto in tow. Curious about the source were they following the noises towards the living room to find C sitting at the dinner table, currently destroying the report he was writing. "Yo Spooky, what's up?" he greeted the newcomers, giving them a lazy wave of his hand.

"Just training." Kakashi replied casually. "When did you arrive?"

"Before noon, but I was sleeping til maybe 20 minutes ago or so. Was working the whole night after all." he shrugged slightly. "Ain't you missing a girl?" he pointed out, his eyes falling on the two genin standing next to him.

"Hinata stayed behind at our training spot. She wanted to train a bit more on a new technique of hers. Said she would follow once she's done. So... could you get us some useful info?" his eye was fixed on the torn paper.

Seeing Kakashi's look was C laughing. "I sure did. Just saw no point in actually writing a report now, considering that I could simply tell you, right?" he gestured at the table in front of him. "But hey, sit down. No point in standing there while I talk, right? And we could maybe play some cards as well, don't ya think?"

The group took a chair each and settled down, actually thankful to be able to sit and relax for now. In fact were they even thinking about taking C up on his offer of a cardgame, but knowing him was Hanabi activating her Byakugan for a short moment before shaking her head. "He got currently 9 aces and a royal straight flush hidden in his sleeves. I'm not playing."

"Hrmpf! You know that your eyes are considered cheating during gambling, right?" C crossed his arms over his chest, mustering Hanabi with an annoyed look on his face.

"Said the one actually cheating." Hanabi shot back without missing a beat, glaring at the card trickster.

Looking from one to another was Naruto shaking his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Guys, don't you think that our mission is more important right now than the fact who's cheating at games?"

The argument between the two stopped right away, and both of them, plus Kakashi, were looking at Naruto with somewhat shocked expressions on their faces. Said boy let out a low growl. "What? Do you think that I'm stupid or something? You think I would have become a shinobi if I were? We got a mission and it is dangerous, remember?" he rolled his eyes. "So can we PLEASE get to the informations now?"

"Huh, sometimes does he really surprise me. I mean, it shouldn't, considering his parents, but still..." Kakashi mumbled quietly to himself, shaking his head slightly.

Bursting out into laughter again was C nodding in agreement. "Ayup, I tend to forget as well that he can have his moments. Righty, the informations. So, where you wanna start?"

They sat there for a good one and an half hour, discussing about Gato and his thugs, the Demon of the Mist Zabuza, how lucky C was for getting away from that encounter without any bigger problems. The part about him visiting the female mercenary afterwards was something he could have skipped and Hanabi made that more than clear by aiming a Gentle Fist strike in his crotch area. C was able to dodge, but he got the message and went on with the important stuff. After telling them that the Organization wasn't involved in this area, but that he would expect them to show up, was he finished with his report.

"So, to put it simple..." Kakashi started thoughtful. "Could basicly everything happen once the construction on the bridge continues. The Demon would avoid the Organization but attack us from Konoha. Gato would fight anyone threatening his business and if the Organization sees you would it be like a living hell. All things considered... are our odds pretty bad, huh?"

"Unless you go ahead and buy some of his mercenaries, yes. But if you want to do that would I hurry. I can tell you that I'm not the first person to have an idea like that." C nodded while replying.

Hanabi was biting her lower lip for a moment, but couldn't hold back the comment in the end. "You mean you actually pay your people and not just kidnap and capture them?"

"Funny." he rolled his eyes. "Yes, the Organization is paying their members. Sometimes at least. It's more threatening them that they wouldn't think about leaving. But, if you want to take over or destroy competition..." he started to explain but got interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. If money can reduce the number of opponents you have to face, why wouldn't you take that opportunity, right?" the girl finished for him.

"Yup, something like that." he simply shrugged.

Having stayed silent for most of the conversation was Naruto finally speaking up as well. "Uhm, guys? Dunno if that's important, but... has any of you seen Tazuna since we came back? I mean, without him will there be no construction, right?"

"Good point, actually..." Kakashi agreed before adressing Hanabi. "Search him."

Activating her Byakugan was said girl quickly scanning the whole house before shaking her head. "He isn't here. Say, C, you were the last one to see him, right?"

"Well, yeah, when I arrived here before noon. But I was sleeping the whole time. Must have left then, cause he wasn't here when I woke up."

"Didn't he mention that he's living with his daughter and grandson here and that they should come back today? But we haven't seen any of these two either, right?" Naruto asked with worry in his voice.

"...you think something bad happened?" Hanabi asked quietly, looking at the two present jonin.

"We better go look for them." Kakashi agreed, quickly getting up from the table and leaving the house, followed by the rest of the group.

Inside the village

He was restless. Tsunami, his daughter, should have been back like three hours ago together with his grandson, Inari. But they hadn't arrived at home and after waiting a good hour, with Kakashi being out training with his genin and C being asleep, did he decide to go search for his family or at least run into them if they might be late. But he made no progress so far and he already was searching for two hours. None of the villagers he asked had seen his family either and he was worried that something might have happened to them.

Another thought that crossed his mind was that he must look suspicious as well, searching the village, asking random villagers about his family. If any of Gatos thugs might spot him and report that - that could probably be the weakness Gato was waiting for to finally crush the carpenter and his bridge building plan. But it was about his family after all, he just couldn't sit still and wait quietly for his daughter to maybe or maybe not come home.

It wasn't really helping that it was getting dark already and the moment he passed another corner did he run into a group of three of Gatos thugs. He silently cursed his bad luck because that was the least he wanted right now.

"Well, well, look who we got here. Ain't that the carpenter making our boss that much trouble?" one of the thugs, a scarred man carrying a huge sword, asked.

"Eh? Guess so..." the second one spoke, a pretty plain man with a katana strapped on his back.

"So what? I'm in a hurry, you know? If you please would step aside that I can continue on?" Tazuna spoke calmly on the outside, but already drawing out the worst possible outcomes in his mind.

The third thug, a woman with a scar across her eye, gave him a weak smile. "I happen to have heard you searching for your family. That's a shame, isn't it?"

"Yeah, tell him that our boss would kidnap them to blackmail him into stopping the building of the bridge." the katana wearing one said.

The woman let out a long sigh and rolled her eyes. "And again, I haven't said any about that. You just gave that information away, you know?"

"Huh?" the man scratched the back of his neck, feeling for the hilt of his katana at the same time. "Wait what? I did?" an appolegetic smile entered his face.

Tazuna's face paled visibly, the thought of Gato having captured his family crushed his determination to continue the work on the bridge in an instant.

"Will ya two shut up already? It's always the same..." the scarred one spoke up, glaring at his friends. "Ya do know as good as I that we ain't having them."

And suddenly did his hope come back, even if just a little. So there must be a logical reason why his daughter wasn't back just yet. It had nothing to do with Gato at least.

"Say..." the one with katana pondered aloud. "Why aren't we finishing him off for good now? I mean, that would solve all the troubles, right?"

Even more colour left Tazunas face just now. He was in deep trouble this time and he was all alone. The shinobi he hired out training in the woods and the strange fellow that joined them later sleeping at his house. None of them had an idea where he was right now and none of them would come for his aid.

"Sure, go ahead." the woman said while shaking her head. "If you want the whole village to come after us. It's one thing that Gato is surpressing the civillians, but it's another to kill off their hope, you know?" she drew a knife from one of the sheaths at her chest and started cleaning the dirt below her fingernails with it.

"I said shuddup ya two!" the scarred man shouted at his companions. "Or do ya want to draw the attention on us here?"

"...am pretty sure that you just managed to do that by yourself, you know?" a voice came out of an backalley at their side and the three of them plus Tazuna looked over to see who was interrupting the situation. "Though I think I'm thankful for that. After all did you help me find my host."

"You?!" three of the four of them said at the same time, watching the blonde man stepping out of the alley. Tazunas voice sported disbelief, he still wasn't really trusting C yet. The scarred man sounded angry. Not only did he loose a fortune to C the night before, no, they, left him sleeping in the bar and once he woke up he also had to pay for all the alcohol they drank. The only female within the group spoke pretty quiet, a small blush entering her face. She hadn't expected to meet that man again that quickly. Just the one with katana stayed calm, pretty much ignoring the fact that he played cards with the guy last night. He couldn't care less.

It wasn't too hard for C to track Tazuna down. Gathering information was his business after all and it wasn't difficult to get the villagers talking about Tazuna searching for his daughter and grandson. In addition to that did he have both Kakashi, a specialist for tracking, and Hanabi with her Byakugan with him. No, it really wasn't hard to find Tazuna. But after realizing the situation the carpenter was in, and more importantly with whom, did he tell his companions to stay hidden. No reason to risk their mission.

"Happy to see you again too." he said smiling, giving them a wave. "Hey Tazuna, you weren't at our meeting point to pick me up. That's not like you. You promised to shelter me after all."

He wasn't the quickest with his brain and all he could reply on that was a "What?", not being able to play along. Gladly for them wasn't that necessary at all, cause the three mercenaries weren't noticing his reaction.

"Ya mean ya are involved with that old carpenter? That means you're our enemy after all!" the scarred one said, lifting up his sword. "So glad. Payback for my money!"

"Don't!" the woman spoke up loudly. "He's involved with the Demon. Better not draw the anger of him and his slave on us!"

"...what?" the scarred man turned his head to look at the female with doubt written all over his face.

"Huh. That's news to me." the katana wielding one said bored. "Wanna flip a coin whether or not we start a massacre here?"

All Tazuna could do was to watch in disbelief at the scene in front of him. He lost track of what was happening the moment C spoke about him sheltering him. His brain simply shut down, waiting for anything to happen that would tell him whether or not he was dying now.

"Geez, guys, relax. I'm noone's enemy, alright? Yes, the Demon and I are old friends, so what? And yes, Tazuna here is giving me shelter while I'm staying here. So?" C shrugged. "Why don't we sit down, play some cards and talk things out?"

That however proved to be the wrong suggestion as he quickly ducked under a slash of the huge sword from the scarred mercenary. "Ya think ya'll can cheat on us again?" he said angryly, glaring at the blonde. "No chance in hell! But if ya wanna play a game, I got a question for ya. Answer right and we'll let ya go." a smirk crossed his face.

"Don't do that!" the female hissed to her companion, the blush on her face increasing by a nuance.

The third raised his eyebrow at her. "Don't tell me you did...?" he asked her with slight surprise, not that he really cared.

The scarred one however wasn't hearing any of that, his eyes focused on C who simply nodded. "Sure, go ahead."

Grinning from ear to ear was he happy right now. Nobody ever answered that question correctly because it was simply impossible. And it meant he could just cut the blonde down afterwards. He did agree to it after all. "Righty. How many knives does she have with her?" he pointed over his shoulder to the female, his eyes focused on C.

Said female was simply shaking her head and sighing. She didn't like being made an object of his stupid bets. Sure, it was effective and all, but still. Plus, this time was the first time they would loose that bet. Could it become even more embarassing?

"That's all you want to know? It's 47 knives all together." C answered calmly with a slight shrug. "So yeah, my friend and I are leaving now." he grabbed Tazuna by the shoulder and pushed him away into the alley he came from, trying to leave as quick as possible as long as the mercenaries weren't reacting.

"Wait a moment!" the scarred one shouted. "How? How did ya know that?"

He wasn't stopping to walk away, only looking back over his shoulder with a sly smile. "Simple. I could count them while I undressed her." and with these words was he rounding around a corner, disappearing together with Tazuna out of their sight.

Getting the looks of her companions was she glaring back at them, mostly at the scarred one. "What? You can't blame me that I wanted to have some fun. Do you have any idea how long ago my last time was? So don't you dare say a word!"

The two males knew her good enough to know that they shouldn't talk back to her now. And they agreed, without needing to talk about it, that they wouldn't tell anyone about this encounter they had right now...

Just a bit later

"That was... intresting." Kakashi stated neutrally, watching C and Tazuna. "I'm really surprised you managed to talk him out of that situation."

Still slightly under shock was Tazuna shaking his head. "What the hell just happened there?" he asked in disbelief.

"Beats me..." Naruto mumbled quietly. "There was just no way to follow that."

Hanabi shrugged her shoulders. "I got lost after the part about C knowing the Demon. They meant Zabuza, right?"

Letting out a long sigh was C looking at Kakashi. "Well, two things just happened. One, we avoided a blood bath and you loosing your cover. Two, I'm going to leave tonight because too many people are already aware of my pressence here. There's just no way I'm able to gather more information now without getting found out. Plus, I don't want to be here once the Organization shows up. And I tell you, they will."

He nodded to that. "Understandable. A spy that got found out is pretty much useless. But I think we already got enough useful info about the situation as whole. Any last advice?"

"Try to not get killed?" C shrugged. "I mean, the construction continues in two days, right? I tell you that this will be utter chaos. I'm sure that Gato will show up with his thugs. The Demon will be one of them, maybe even prior to Gato, but he isn't loyal to him. You might have a chance to talk to him. Anyway, if luck favors you is that all. If not..." he shook his head.

"Right, got it. So, about these three...?" Kakashi raised his eyebrow.

"They were the ones I milked for information last night. And the woman was still with me when Zabuza ran into me." he answered in short. "That all? Good. Well, good luck then. You'll need it." and with these words was he making a single handsign, disappearing in a swirl of playing cards that disintegrated once hitting the ground.

Shaking his head slowly was Tazuna letting out a long sigh. "What a strange fellow. So... uhm, about my family...?" he spoke up hesitantly but got interrupted by Kakashi right away.

"Not much we can do. For one, this isn't our mission. And secondly do we have no clue about them. So I guess you just have to wait and see if they appear or not. Or if any other information becomes available."

"I see..." Tazuna let his head hang in defeat.

"Isn't that a bit cruel?" Hanabi whispered to Naruto. "I mean, sure, Spooky got a point, but..."

"Yeah..." Naruto whispered back. "Just think about how we would react if Hinata-chan went missing all of a sudden." It took him some moments to process his own words before he realized what he just said. "Oh crap." he now spoke loudly. "We totally forgot about Hinata-chan. She's still out training, right? And it's already getting dark..."

The kids looked at Kakashi who simply shook his head. It seemed like this day wasn't going to end anytime soon.

Near the pond inside the forest

The sun was already setting down, the last rays of light breaking through the trees of the forest. Hinata was taking deep breaths, her chest visibly rising and falling, while laying on her back next to the pond. She was drenched from top to bottom because of all the water attacks she destroyed with her Gentle Fist, but also had some holes in her clothes from needles she wasn't able to hit. All things considered would she say that she did good. It was a useful training to her and maybe one day would she be able to perfect that defense of her. A smile crossed her face.

"...are you okay?" a concerned feminine voice spoke up next to her, startling the girl to the core. She tried rising up from the ground to face and, if needed, defend herself against whoever it might be, but the exhaustion was too much and she fell back down halfway up. She instantly felt a gentle touch, two hands holding her body before she could hit the ground hard.

Turning her head slightly was she looking into a beautiful yet concerned face, framed by black hair falling down slightly half of the girls back. She must be a bit older than Hinata, but not too much. "Uhm... thanks..." she spoke quietly, not sure where the other girl came from. There was nobody around while she was training, that she was sure about. After all was her Byakugan active the whole time and she hadn't spotted anyone around.

The girl holding her was pondering about Hinata before the concerned face switched into a slight frown. "You are a slave." it wasn't a question but a statement. "Are you running from your master?"

A slight blush entered Hinatas face and she raised a hand to feel her neck. The headband hanging loose around it moved much around while she was training, revealing her collar she wore below it to anyone looking. She brought the headband back in place and tightened it a bit more to secure it in place, before averting her eyes. A girl she didn't know found her out. "No, I'm not running from my mistress... I was... training." she spoke quietly.

"You know that nobody will believe you around here, right?" the other girl spoke gentle now. "A slave without master around this area is considered on the run and free to hunt and claim, you know?"

"I didn't know..." Hinata shook her head. "I'm not from around here and we just arrived yesterday..."

The unknown girl stood up, smiling down at Hinata and extending a hand to her. "I could tell by your headband. You are from Konoha, right? Here, let me help you up. You can stand, right?"

Hinata had a smile on her face. She now had the opportunity to look at the girl completely and she was really beautiful with her rose kimono. However, she was also able to now spot the collar around that girls neck as well. It was a simple black leather collar, but had a snowflake etched into it's side - somewhat similiar to the playing kitten etched into her own collar. After taking the hand and getting up on her feet couldn't she help but to ask. "You are a slave too? But didn't you just say... that..."

The gentle smile never left the lips of the unknown girl. "Yes, I am. And I love serving my master. There is nothing more fulfilling in life." seeing Hinata's confused expression was she adding a bit more. "Oh, don't worry about me. I'm known around here. Nobody would try to lay a finger on me. You are the one to worry about."

"You... are serious... about me being in danger, are you?" her voice was barely a hearable whisper, unwanted images entering Hinatas mind.

"Totally! You are lucky that nobody ever comes out into this forest. If someone would, well, I doubt that you get to see your mistress again." the girl shrugged slightly. Well, it was easy for her to say after all. Hinata was the one getting even more unwanted images in her mind, one worse than the last.

She hugged herself, holding her chest tight with her own arms. "I... don't want to be seperated from her... don't want to leave her..." Hinata mumbled quietly, her face showing fear, her voice unsteady. "How... could I live... without her? And she... without me?" She kept quiet after that, trying to calm herself down. Yes, something bad could happen, but no, it hadn't happened yet. The girl kept quiet as well, simply watching and waiting for Hinata to speak again.

After a few minutes, which Hinata needed to calm down, was she shaking her head, her mind being made up. "I won't let that happen. Nobody is going to seperate me from my mistress as long as I can do something against that!". She nodded to herself in confidence in the end, before the blush on her face suddenly got stronger, when she finally processed another information she just got. "Wait, you love serving your master? You mean like... you know... uhm..." she gulped, not really daring to speak it out loud and it was just a mere whisper when it left her lips. "Like... sexual?"

That somehow hit the unknown girl by surprise and she watched Hinata for some moments, blinking her eyes a few times, before finally starting to chuckle. "Hell no. Of course not! I mean, I'm a boy. My master isn't into that kind of thing." she, or better he, shook his head.

"You... what?" Hinata was unable to process that information. There was clearly a girl standing in front of her, but claiming to be a boy. That couldn't be right. "Uhm... if you say so... so... what are you doing out here?"

"Just taking a little stroll, enjoying the fresh air. And you were training, right? Being exhausted, but not having run away and in addition wearing a ninja headband. You must have trained, right?" the girl, no, the boy - Hinata really had problems to get that into her head - responded to her in a voice still sounding feminine.

She nodded slowly. "Yeah, I did. I need to become stronger to protect my mistress and my friends. The thought of loosing them is just too much for me..."

The smile entered back into the face of the strange teen. "Ah, that's good to hear. So you do love your mistress as well, right? That's how it should be. One should always love their master or mistress, no matter what. Because they are the only ones one has." there was a sparkling glint in his eyes, showing how serious he meant these words. "You know, devoting oneself full-heartly to the owner will help the slave to grow beyond every point imageinable."

Hinata kept silent for a while, thinking these words over. She was thinking back to the bet that brought her into this position, to the time when C captured them and explained things to them, up to recent events. She figured that she grew even closer to her sister, her mistress, during these years. "I... think that you are right. I feel a deep bond with my mistress and I'm happy about this."

"Really, I'm glad to hear that." the teen smiled honest at her. "Will you be okay to get back? You recovered a bit, right? It's getting dark."

Blinking her eyes a few times was Hinata hit offguard by that. She hadn't realized that the sun was as good as gone by now. "Yeah, I'll be alright. It was... nice talking to you." she smiled gently back.

"Hope to see you again soon." the teen, catching Hinata offguard again, pulled her into a hug before turning around and wordlessy walking away into the forest.

Shaking her head to get out of her stupor was Hinata wondering about that strange teen. Who was he and why was he here? And more importantly, why did she just talk honest about her situation with a stranger? Also... was he really a boy? Quickly activating her Byakugan was she checking the direction the teen had disappeared, finding him in a bit distance. Using her Bloodline was she checking the body of the teen, a smirk entering her face. "Huh... I knew that couldn't have been a boy." she spoke quietly to herself and shook her head again. Well, who was she to question why someone would lie about that? Must have been a reason for it.

Storing that information for later use, and realizing that the sun was gone completely by now, was she heading back to Tazunas house. Her team must be worried by now she figured, not wanting to let them wait any longer. She really had failed to keep an eye on the time that passed and was glad that she could see even in the dark with her Byakugan, making the way back much easier than for a normal person.

Somewhere unknown - but not too far away

She was inside a cave. At least, she thought she was in one, if the occasional echoing of footsteps and other sounds were any indicator. But she couldn't be too sure, given the fact that she was blindfolded. Sitting on the ground, there was at least a blanket for which she was thankful if she really was inside a cave, were her hands tied behind her back.

Having given up to speak, there was just no reply and even shouting seemed to have no effect, meaning there was most likely nobody around to hear her, was all she could do wait. Wait for anything to happen, wait for someone to come for her. There must have been someone who brought her in this situation in the first place, so there had to be someone coming for their prisoner, right? At least she hoped so. Starving in this situation was something that wasn't sounding too appealing to her. But then again, the echo of footsteps was an indicator for someone being around.

She remembered traveling back to her village together with her son, after having taken a short vacation trip to the neighboring village. Her father recommended it to her, to not stay alone at home with her son, while he was traveling to Konoha to hire shinobi as guards for the bridge building. But what happened then? She shook her head, unable to remember what happened. The next thing she knew was that she was in this situation, alone. And where was her son? Was he here too? But why didn't he answer her?

Letting out a long sigh was she placing her head on her chest. There was no use to struggle, so why should she even try? And if nobody came for her, or talked to her, maybe even interrogated her, what reason was there to waste her energy? She understood at least that much.

"You know..." a deep male voice spoke up next to her, startling her. "You are no fun at all. Woman usually tend to struggle a lot and scream and try to get free if they are captured. But you really disappoint me here. Already resigned to the fact that you could be sold as slave soon?"

Turning her head in the direction of the voice, even so she couldn't see the man it belonged too, did she shook her head. "No, I didn't. But there is no reason for me to uselessly waste my energy, is there? Besides, with all the pressure and fear forced down on us from your boss Gato for all this time... you think we don't know what might happen to us?"

She wasn't sure where she found the courage to talk that defiant to the person who captured her, but then again, panicking wouldn't help her either. The male watching his captive, a sturdy man wearing a full body suit, couldn't help but smile. It seemed like getting information about that Gato wasn't going to be too hard if this woman just kept on talking. And talking she did. He wasn't sure why the woman continued, but he didn't care at all.

"So what? Did you sunk low enough now to take me hostage, to blackmail my father into stopping the construction of the bridge? Well, you will be in for a surprise! He went and hired shinobi from Konoha as guards. So if you show up at the bridge are you in for a good beating. There's no way that we won't get our independence back from your boss." she took a deep breath, having talked herself into rage. It felt good to tell one of Gatos men what was on her mind. And as long as they let her talk would they surely not do anything bad to her, right?

"Konoha, huh?" the man asked surprised, a grin entering his face. "Well, talk about a coincidence. I got business with them too. So maybe can I settle two things while being here, great. So... about that bridge you mentioned?"

It was then that the woman realized something. If this guy didn't knew about the bridge was he none of Gatos men. And if he wasn't one of Gatos men might her life actually be in danger cause she had no value to him as a blackmail object. That thought finally brought panic into her mind. "Where's my son?" she asked quietly, her voice having dropped in volume, the courage gone in an instant.

The man couldn't help but to laugh at that. "Finally figured that I have nothing to do with Gato? Thanks for the informations so far though. And don't worry, he's here as well. Just had to knock him out for being too noisy. So..." his voice getting serious again. "I believe you wanted to tell me about that bridge your father is working on?"

She wasn't sure what to do. Her life was basicly over, she realized. No matter if she would give him the informations he wanted or not, he would take her away. Or maybe just leave her behind and not come back because he got killed, letting her to starve whereever she was right now. Inwardly she cursed her bad luck and let out a long sigh.

Tazunas house, the next morning

The group sat around the table, eating breakfast together. Tazuna was still worried about his daughter and grandson, but there was nothing he could do right now. As much as he hated it, the shinobis were right about the fact that they hadn't any information about their whereabouts and with that no way of effectively tracking them down. That strange C guy might have had a chance to do that, he figured, but he left during the night. It wasn't easy for him to understand the reasons behind that, but Kakashi explained that it had something to do with C's former connections from years ago. Oh well...

"Uhm... sorry if I worried you all..." Hinata spoke up, looking at her team. She ran straight into them the night before when she left the forest, being overwhelmed by Hanabi and Naruto who were just about to search for her. Kakashi simply had a reliefed expression on the visible portion of his face, but she wasn't too sure if it was because of her being safe or because they didn't need to search for her.

The group let the topic be at that point and simply went back into the house and to bed after that long day they all had. Which left Hinatas explanation for her late return for this morning. "I just... totally forgot the time while I was training. And when I had new energy after it, to finally head back, was the sun already gone. So, I'm really sorry." she had an appolegetic smile on her face.

"I'm just glad that nothing happened to you, sis. So, was your training succesful?" Hanabi looked at her sister, a mixture of relieve and curiosity on her face.

Nodding slightly was Hinata careful with her words. "I think... that I managed to improve a little?" she spoke pretty vague, a mishievious glint in her eyes.

"Awww, come on... that ain't fair, sis. Do I need to order you to tell us?" the younger girl pouted at her sister, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, tomorrow will the work at the bridge start and from tomorrow on are we on guard duty there. And if our informations are correct will we most likely have enemy encounter. Guess we'll know then whether or not her training was useful." Kakashi interrupted the argument before it could start. The last thing he needed was Hanabi going dominant over such a trivial matter.

"Oh, that reminds me..." Hinata started, pausing to take a bite from her breakfast. "I actually had an encounter inside the forest last night before I came back."

"Huh, that's odd. Nobody ever goes into it..." Tazuna pondered aloud, her teammates and sensei looking at Hinata with different expressions.

"Well, It was kinda strange, if I think about it now. There was this girl that said to be a boy. She was a slave too, said she was worried about me, cause a slave without master would be taken and claimed on sight. But when I mentioned her being alone was she laughing, telling that she's known around here. We talked a bit and then she left. I... checked her out when she was gone and it really was a girl. Really don't know why she said she's a boy." Hinata shrugged in the end.

"Why would a girl say that she's a boy anyway? I don't get it." Naruto spoke up, shaking his head at that idea. "I mean, you are who you are, right?"

"Could have different reasons, Naruto. Some do not feel comfortable with their gender and wish to be the opposite one. Or it might simply be for self-protection. Female slaves tend to get raped and stuff quite often." Kakashi explained in a calm and neutral voice, hinting that he knew what he's talking about.

"I... that's..." Hinata shook her head. "That's cruel..."

"It's the nature of slavery. A slave is just property to the owner and the owner can do whatever he or she desires. Though I was under the impression that the two of you should know that." he raised an eyebrow at the older girl who simply let her head hang.

"Uhm, that aside... don't you think it's weird?" Hanabi spoke up, thinking about the matter. "A girl, slave, that said she's a boy. Doesn't that sound familiar to you?"

"You think so?" Kakashi asked, looking at the younger girl.

"Now that you mention it, yeah. I kinda have the same feeling. But not sure why." Naruto pondered aloud.

It was Tazuna who remembered, his face paling. "You... were busy fighting these brothers who attacked us. But they started discussing at one point. About a slave and whether it's a boy or girl..."

Hinatas eyes widened in realization, she too paling slightly. "...right. It was about the slave of the Demon..." she trailed off.

"You mean you met the slave of the Demon, that Ice Style user, inside the forest? Did she... knew who you are? Did they watch our fight with the brothers? Did she remember us from back then?" Hanabis voice got quicker the more she asked, panic starting to claim her. The last thing she needed was a repeat from three years ago. It was worse enough that the chilling mist haunted her inside her mindscape.

"Pull yourself together you two!" Kakashi spoke loud, authority in his voice. "She wasn't attacking Hinata when she had the chance, so she probably had no intention of harming us. However, we now know that the Demon is aware of our presence here, something we anticipated anyway. It doesn't change anything. Tomorrow will we guarding the workers on the bridge and, like we expect thanks to C's informations, will it most likely become ugly. So we will prepare for that anyway."

"Hey, Spooky, do you think we got a chance?" Naruto asked worried. "I mean, even if Hanabi-chan pulls herself together..." said girl just glared at him "...will we have to deal with the Demon and his slave, most likely a lot of bandits and mercenaries working for that Gato and on top of that with the Organization, right? And we are... just a team of 4."

Kakashi simply smiled back at him. "I want to tell you two things. First, I already faced worse situations and I am still alive. And second, all of you three got a lot of potential and I believe in your skills."

That earned him three hesitant nods from his genin. At least for the moment were they, more or less, confident about the next day.

Zabuzas hideout

"Haku." Zabuza spoke up without looking in the direction of the girl. "I noticed you were out last night again. And you seem to be strangely happy today. So?"

"Uhu." Haku hummed in reply. "I met the one girl from Konoha. Turned out that she actually is a slave and that she loves her mistress. I'm just glad to have heared that. So no need for me to tell her how great it is to be a slave."

Turning his head around to look at his property was Zabuza raising an eyebrow. "...just one of the girls? All alone?" he let out a silent laugh. "How stupid are these Konoha guys? Letting a girl alone at night in this land. Can't believe they actually defeated my tools. Anyway, you are forbidden to leave my side from now on."

That hit Haku hard. She always was a good girl, she never did anything wrong. "But... why, Zabuza-sama? Everyone knows that they shouldn't try anything funny... I... didn't do something wrong, did I?" she asked fearfully. The thought of having displeased her master was just too much for her.

"Has nothing to do with you. I ran into one of these Organization guys yesterday. He said he wasn't here for us, but they are clearly up to something. I'm not trusting them at all. That's why I want you close to me from now on. Not gonna risk them to snatch and sell you away." he spoke with clear anger in his voice.

"...I understand, master." the girl agreed. "But does this change anything with your plans?"

"At least not for now, no. We will be at the construction site tomorrow, as ordered by Gato. Not that I would trust him either..." he trailed off after that, shaking his head and thinking about it. "And then... who knows. I'm not sure if the money he pays is nearly enough to deal with these Konoha shinobi and the Organization on top, should they show up. We will decide spontanous, once time has come."

Haku tilted her head to the side, watching her master for a moment. "You haven't told him about the Konoha shinobi?"

"He's paying us to do his dirty work and he said often enough that he isn't intrested in what we have to say, remember? Still... I don't know what will happen tomorrow, so I want you to rest up."

"As you wish, master. I'll be in my room for the time being. Please call me whenever you need something." Haku nodded and turned to leave. She had a small pout on her lips. It was boring not being allowed to go outside, but she wouldn't complain. It was an order from her master and following them was all she lived for.

Gatos hideout

Gato, a man with not that much height and wearing a suit, was looking with displeasure at the three mercenaries standing in front of him. He wasn't too happy at all about the report he received from his men regarding this specific group and he had no problems letting them know.

"For what do I actually pay you scum? You got just one night off and you managed to spill basicly every important point about my operations to a complete stranger you just met at a bar and played cards with. How stupid can you be? I thought at least two of you had at least somewhat of a brain..." he shouted at them, watching their reactions.

All three of them weren't even flinching. Either a sign that they were really battle-steeled mercenaries or - and that might be more the case - they weren't really taking their employer too serious. Like most of the bandits and mercenaries did. Sure, Gato paid good money, but that's it. Not that any of them would tell him that into his face.

Growling at the lack of reaction did he continue. "But no, that's not all. The morning after was that stranger be seen entering an alley together with the Demon. What the hell? Care to explain that?" he was glaring at the woman of the group. "They told me that you were with him til that point. Speak!"

She gave him a weak smile and shrugged slightly. "They said they were old friends." she answered truthfully, before smirking slightly. "Afraid that this stranger told the Demon about your operations? From my stand is he informed about them anyway, isn't he?" she supplied helpfully.

"Just SHUT UP, bitch!" he was loosing his temper, throwing his arms into the air out of frustration. "The worst part is yet to come. I mean, how stupid can you three be?"

"Stupid, huh?" the man with Katana on his back spoke up. "You mean like our big boy here, good ole 'dozer. You could tell his charging into enemy ranks stupid, but it's effective, you know?" he shrugged, his voice bored as usual.

"Ain't nice, man, ain't nice..." the scarred man replied, shaking his head.

"I said SHUT UP! All of you! Just SHUT UP!" Gato was really loosing it now, his eyes showing pure hate towards the mercenaries who, finally, decided to better listen for now. Their boss still was the one holding the power around here. "You had the bridgebuilder cornered. You got seen! And what did you do? Let the same stranger from the night before take him away..." his voice trailed off, the hate in his eyes still visible before he poked the scarred man on his forehead multiple times. "Hello? Anybody inside? You got the bridgebuilder. The guy giving me all the trouble. And what did you do? STUPID IDIOTS!"

"...we found out that his daughter and grandson went missing. He were frantically searching for them. Would say his will is somewhat broken." the female replied for her companion, drawing the attention from Gato on herself.

Three seconds. That was all the time needed for Gatos mood to completely turn around before he bursted out into manical laughter. "That's excellent! So he finally showed us a weakness? Perfect!". It took him several minutes to calm down, the mercenaries still not moving, before he looked at them again. "Fine. He wants to continue the construction tomorrow, right? We will strike then. You three will be part of the vanguard. Disappoint me and you got your last payment..." he threatend in the end.

Acknowledging these orders was the group leaving. Once they were out of hearing range was the bored man turning towards his friends. "Vanguard, huh? So we gotta get rid of the workers and other trouble before he's going to show up?"

"...meaningless slaughter, ya know?" the scarred one cracked his neck. "The money's good, but that's it. I want a challenge, ya know?"

"I got a bad feeling about this..." the female spoke quietly to herself, drawing one of her knifes out of its sheat. "Like totally. How about we leave and look for a new contract tonight?" seeing the looks her friends gave her was she shrugging her shoulders while examing the blade. "Was just asking, geez."

XXXXX

 _ **Authors Note:**_ I guess you could say I set all rails for an utter and complete chaos on the bridge. Please place your bets now whether or not I screw up keeping track of everything during the "Clash on the Bridge" chapter *coughs*

Just had to take C out of the picture/arc. He got a shiny moment here, but he would make the next chapter way too complicated. I over-focused on him during this chapter in the first place, so yeah, logical consequence.

And if you wonder about it: thought it would be a nice touch to use the three mercenaries as "representatives" for Gatos thug army. Like, dunno, giving his cannon fooder some character and a face or something. To make it something more than just cannon fooder. You get the point, right?

So, final point: your thoughts on the Haku/Hinata scene? We all know what Haku did for Naruto in the original - but I switched him out with Hinata here. But in the end didn't she really need a push, did she? Though, I hope I still got the spirit of this scene captured, cause in the end did she understood something different, didn't she?


	30. Chapter 29 - Clash on the Bridge - 1st

**A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 29: Clash on the Bridge (Part 1)  
**

"Hey sis?" Hanabi asked in a low voice, sitting on her designated sleeping place while looking over at her sister. The sun was already gone and the shinobi went to bed early, in order to be rested and fresh for the following day. They didn't know after all how bad the day might become and being rested and prepared was the best they could do for now.

Only getting a low groan from her sister in reply, she tried again. "Sis, you still awake?" She asked again quietly, hoping that she wasn't asleep yet.

Letting out a long yawn Hinata turned around to face her sister, only opening one eye to look at her. "What is it, mistress?" she asked with a sleepy voice, slightly mumbling. "Had a bad dream? I don't mind if you want to snuggle." There was a weak smile on her face, but it was clearly visible that she was just moments away from entering the dreamland herself.

Hanabi shook her head in reply, her voice still low. "No, that's not it. I..." she started, unsure how to word it. "I'm afraid about tomorrow, sis."

Sitting up as well Hinata rubbed her eyes, trying to fight off the sleep for now. If her sister needed some comfort, she would give it to her. What kind of sister would she be if she wouldn't look after her little sister after all? It didn't matter that they were bound by slavery, this was a moment in which one sister needed the other. "You are afraid about a repeat from back then, aren't you?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah..." was Hanabi's only reply, pulling her legs close to her body and laying her arms around them. "I mean... we are up against slavers, right? And some of the people who captured us are involved as well..."

"...but we aren't as weak as we were back then and we got Spooky with us." Hinata replied after a moment of hesitation. "I'm sure we will be alright."

Placing her head on top of her legs Hanabi thought about her sisters words. It sounded logical to her. They were indeed not as helpless as compared to three years ago. "And what if one of us dies?" her eyes focused on her sister.

It was Hinatas turn to keep silent, not sure how to reply to that. That sure was a possibility as well. But it wouldn't be a fate as bad as being enslaved. A smile entered her face once she made up her mind. "That could happen on any mission and we both know that, Hanabi. That is the risk a shinobi has to take, remember?"

"I know, but still..." the younger girl sniffed. "I don't want to loose you, sis. And I don't want to die... maybe we should have canceled this mission once we learned that it would be more dangerous than we thought."

That was it. Despite being totally tired this was the moment Hinata's patience snapped. She loved her sister. She had no problems with being her slave either. But that was simply too much right now. Being thankful that they had a room for themselves she got up and walked over to her younger sister. Said girl was totally surprised and didn't even react when her sisters hand neared her face. All she could do was look back at her sister in total shock while her cheek slowly turned red, sending pain through her body.

"Hanabi Hyuga, stop your depressive thoughts already." Hinata hissed, avoiding to raise her voice too much to not wake up the rest of the house. "Yes, we could die, something we have been aware of for what? Five years now? Or we could be enslaved. But look at me. Doesn't mean it has to be bad at all. But... and you should know that! We got friends with us who will help us, who will look at our backs when we can't. Friends we can trust and in which you should believe."

She kept silent for a while longer, only looking back at her older sister while her brain slowly processed what had just happened. Her own sister had just scolded her for her negative thoughts. No, that wasn't it. Her own sister had just slapped her because of her negative thoughts. Yes, she was getting closer, but it still didn't sound right to her. While the pain slowly subsided, her brain finally came up with a thought that stuck to her. Her own slave just slapped her because she, as mistress, wasn't showing authority with her mind clouded by negative thoughts.

Yes, that was it. That's what just happened, though she had to admit that Hinata got a valid point there. They actually had friends with them. Their teammate Naruto and their sensei Kakashi. That's why a team had four members in the first place, to watch each others back. "Hey sis..." Hanabi spoke up, an unreadable expression on her face. "Thanks. You are right. I... shouldn't think about these things now."

A small smile entered Hinata's face, hearing these words from her younger sister. "I'm glad you understand. But we should rest now, it's getting late."

"Yeah..." the younger agreed, smiling back at the older. "But I want to snuggle up to you for the night. It's always comforting to have you close to me..."

Nodding to that Hinata settled down next to her sister, making herself comfortable. Hanabi didn't waste any time, pulling herself close, embracing her sister like one would an oversized pillow. Both of them were laying like that for a while in silence, sleep slowly creeping up to both of them. Both enjoyed the closes of the other sister, their minds being at ease. Having a sister one could trust, that was something both of them treasured, despite their overall situation.

Nearly gone into the dreamworld Hanabi mumbled a few last words. It was pretty quiet, but the way they were entangled with her face close to her sisters ear, Hinata was able to hear the words, before falling asleep herself afterwards. "I'm going to punish you for the slap once we are back..."

With that both of them were gone. Hanabi's mind was at ease this night. She was dreaming, finding herself in the usual clearing of the forest in her mindscape. But it was surprisingly peaceful, her memories not pressing down on her for once. Hinata's mind was at ease as well. Her dream however wasn't as peaceful, as she found herself together with her other personalities, Mistress and Kitty, who had fun telling the real Hinata what the promised punishment might be.

The next day

It was early in the morning, the dawn just about to start, and most of the village was still quiet. The only people already out of their homes were a few merchants that were about to prepare their market stalls, in order to be opened once the majority of the villagers would be up. A slight fog lay above the village and the construction site of the bridge, but it wasn't too bad just yet. One could still see and only in the distance was the fog starting to block the view. But it was enough to send a shiver down ones spine, an eerie promise of things to come.

A group of slightly above a dozen people were hanging out near to the construction site. Some were sitting on the ground playing cards, another leaned on a tree with his eyes closed. A few of them were slightly scattered around, watching the surroundings while three were talking to each other. "Told ya it would be pointless coming here that early. The workers ain't here just yet and will most likely just turn 'round the moment they see us." the scarred mercenary spoke to his friends. "Should have been waiting for 'em to show up and start working before we came."

"But our orders were clear. Stupid, but still clear." The one with katana shrugged. "I mean, it would be better if the workers would turn around and leave. Or do you really want to slaughter civilians?"

The female among them let out a long sigh. "Really guys, I've got a super bad feeling. Let's just sneak away and look for another contract somewhere. I'm telling you, this won't end well here today..." she looked around nervously, as if expecting to be ambushed by the construction workers any moment. Though they wouldn't be a challenge at all, but she just couldn't get rid of the feeling that something evil was coming their way. If she only had prove...

"Ya worry too much, Liane. It's just the old carpenter and some workers. That's easy earned money!" the scarred man grinned at the woman.

Looking back at him was she thought about his words for a moment before shaking her head. "...don't complain if you are the first to die, Angriff. You do charge into any enemy head on after all."

The third among them yawned loudly. "Will you stop it already? You two can fight once that job is done. We get paid, so yeah, whatever."

And with that it became quiet again, the determined vanguard of Gatos thugs tensed up, waiting for the workers to appear or for anything else to happen. They had no idea just yet that today's mission would be everything but easy for them.

Some distance away two other figures sat on the roof of a building, watching the patched up group of bandits and mercenaries through the fog. They were well aware that these were Gatos men, but they weren't really sure why exactly they were there this morning. The black haired teen looked up to the man sitting next to her. "Say, Zabuza-sama, didn't he order you to come here today to deal with the carpenter? Why are his men here as well?" the girl asked her master.

Looking back at his slave who wore plain green clothes now he shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, I've got no clue. Would be interested to know their orders, though. Are they here to assist us, or shall they get rid of us as well? I don't trust Gato at all and this is making things worse." He shook his head slowly, letting out a long sigh. "And I'm worried about that Organization as well. I really wonder why they showed up here... and there are the Konoha shinobi as well... you got your equipment?"

Nodding Haku pulled out a white ANBU mask with red markings on the lower half out of a pocket, sporting the insignia of Kiri on the forehead. In addition she also showed her master the amount of senbon she had with her, earning her an approving nod from Zabuza. "You should know that I'm always prepared, Zabuza-sama." she smiled at her master.

"Just wanted to be sure." he answered, his eyes already back on the group of thugs. "But we will wait for now. I want to know what's going to happen there before we make a move."

Tazunas house

Our shinobi sat in the living room eating breaktfast together with the old carpenter. The mood was tense, all of them were aware what could happen today. "Alright, last chance to go over our intel." Kakashi spoke up, getting the attention of everyone gathered. "Say, Tazuna, where and when do your workers meet up?"

He thought about it for a short moment before he replied. "They usually gather at the same spot, some distance away from the construction side and walk together from there. Should happen in an hour or so." he shrugged slightly. "But I wouldn't be surprised if they were late today. They had a few free days after all and most have trouble getting started after that, right?"

"Well, I do know people who can't wait to get back to work after some free days as well. I wouldn't count on that to happen." Kakashi pondered aloud. "Anyway, we should make sure to reach the bridge first. We don't know about the situation there and it would be a problem if anything happened to the workers in the end."

"You okay, Hanabi-chan?" Naruto asked concerned, watching the unusual quiet girl that barely touched her breakfast either.

"Huh? Yeah..." she answered quietly, shaking her head. "Just thinking about that Ice Style girl. My... memories of that icy mist aren't the nicest ones, you know?"

"It might become a problem, that much is clear. Zabuza is a master of hidden assassinations after all, using a jutsu to create mist for him to move unseen, according to the general known information. And if his slave uses her Ice Style to freeze the water inside the mist..." Kakashi trailed off, thinking about possible solutions. Maybe a Fire Style jutsu to warm the area up in that case?

Smiling at her teammates was Hinata sounding confident. "But his hiding won't help him in the end. We will be able to see him quite well, won't we, Hanabi-sama?"

"Uhu..." the younger girl nodded, a weak smile entering her face. "We will be able to spot him, no problem. But I don't think that we would stand a chance if we had to fight him. He is a well-known missing nin after all, right?"

"Right. And that's the reason why I am the one to fight against Zabuza, should he show up." Kakashi cut in, before the mood of his genin got a chance to drop. "Your job will be to defend Tazuna and his men. This includes fighting against Zabuzas slave and Gatos thugs. Understood?"

The kids nodded to that order and continued with their breakfast, before Naruto spoke up again after a while. "And what if Cs old friends show up?"

Shrugging his shoulders Kakashi averted his eye, looking at an interesting spot of the wall. "Maybe a sudden retreat? Not sure... I haven't planned so far yet." he admitted through gritted teeth.

"But you won't abandon me and my men?" Tazuna asked, slight panic in his voice. First his family went missing and now the shinobis he hired were playing coward?

"That wasn't the plan, no." Kakashi confirmed. But he didn't know yet how he would save them all, if worst would come to worst.

Near the bridge

It was some distance to the bridge that multiple men gathered, all of them in a good mood and motivated. It was the exact opposite from what Tazuna expected to happen. His workers weren't late for comming back from a longer break, they were actually early, eager to get back to the construction. "Alright. Seems like all of us are here. Anyone missing?" one of the workers asked into the round.

"Nope, we're all here. Can't wait to get back to work. Whatcha think? How long til we got the bridge completed?" another one answered.

"Not sure. Two or three weeks, maybe? If there's no interruption." a third shrugged. "So, still wanna go over and start early or are we waiting for Tazuna?"

"The earlier we start, the earlier are we finished." the first spoke, a grin on his face. "I mean, it's all nice that Tazuna went to hire guards and stuff, but do you think we really need them?"

Yet another worker spoke up to that. "Nah. Gato hasn't done anything stupid yet. We will be fine."

The group nodded in agreement and started to move towards the bridge. It was still foggy and the sun was just about to rise, but they were sure they would have enough light to start working once they arrived. And if everything failed they would simply wait til they could actually work. It wouldn't be too long anymore anyway.

Closer to the bridge, at the place Gatos vanguard was waiting, Liane tried her luck again with her two companions. "What about our morale? Didn't we become mercenaries to protect the weak who can't protect themselves? Slaughtering workers has nothing to do with that, you know?"

The scarred one, Angriff, raised an eyebrow at that before looking over to their katana wielding friend. "Ya know, Revy, she got a point there. Shouldn't we be on their side instead of Gatos?"

Revy simply shrugged at that, answering again in a bored tune. "Maybe. But, you think they could pay us?"

Rolling her eyes at that Liane was getting annoyed. "What? Since when is money more important to you than what is right?"

"You volunteering to fight the Demon and his slave?" Revy shot back without missing a beat.

That silenced Liane for a moment, thinking about a reply. Fighting someone like that might mean certain death. But before the argument had any chance to go on any longer, one of the lookouts approached them. "Shut up, all of you. The workers are approaching."

"Hah, talking's over! Tell ya, it's getting interesting now!" Angriff grinned at his friends before walking off in the direction the lookout came from. He would be the first to charge, even if it were just some construction workers. As long as he could fight was every target okay for him.

The following skirmish wasn't exactly long and resulted in a few workers being dead. Another handful of them got injured and brought onto the unfinished bridge, guarded by some thugs as hostages. It was Lianes doing, convincing the other thugs that it had benefits to not kill them - at least right away. And just a single one managed to sneak away from the situation. His face was pale, shock clearly etched into it. All he could think about was getting to Tazuna to tell him what happened.

-on their way to the bridge-

Somewhere halfway on his way to Tazunas house he ran straight into him and the shinobi. Realizing that he found the person he was looking for the worker dropped on the ground, breathing fast. "Chief, it's terrible. Gatos men..." he started, his words forced out of his lungs.

Kneeling down next to the worker Tazuna watched him worried. "Hey, calm down. Take a few deep breaths and than tell us what's wrong."

Nodding slightly the worker did exactly that. Once his pulse calmed down a little he looked up to the group waiting for him to speak. "Gatos men were waiting at the bridge. They ambushed us. Some of the guys are dead, some got taken prisoner. We never stood a chance against them..."

"And with this fog you couldn't see them before it was too late..." Tazuna added in thought, before turning around to Kakashi. "Hey, we need to hurry. You have to save the guys, no matter what. We can't finish the bridge without workers. Though I never expected Gato to use such drastic measures..."

"What kind of bastard kills innocent people?" Naruto asked angrily. "What's the plan?"

"The plan is, Naruto, not to rush in blindly and make things worse. That's the last thing we need right now." Kakashi answered, thinking for a moment. "But for our actual plan, we need to observe the situation before we can decide on anything." And with that was the group quickly moved on towards the construction site. The sun was just starting to rise and the day already promised to become a real bad one.

Just minutes later they were near the bridge, checking out the situation. They could see the corpses lying around in front of the bridge, but there were no signs of the survivors or the thugs. Jumping up on a nearby tree Kakashi could quickly see why that was the case. And he couldn't help but to question whether or not the thugs knew just a little bit about tactics. "The thugs moved onto the unfinished bridge and took the prisoners with them. But something is completely wrong. The bridge isn't finished at all, so they are sitting in a dead end. And the surviving workers are all tied up and sitting together, closer to the beginning of the bridge, unguarded. Like they are just waiting for someone to come free them..." He analyzed the current situation.

"But we have to risk it. We can't leave my workers alone to their fate." Tazuna replied in thought. He had to agree that it sounded like a trap, but there was not much they could do about it.

"You think they are expecting reinforcements that would pinch anyone who tried to rescue them?" Hanabi asked, looking up at Kakashi.

Hinata activated her Byakugan, quickly scanning the close surroundings. "Does sound possible to me. I can't see anyone around in hiding. Either are they expecting more to come, or..."

"...or they are really just a bunch of useless bandits being paid!" Naruto said grinning.

"Concentration!" Kakashi hissed down from the tree he was standing on. "All of you. Becoming careless will just get you killed." After getting nods from his team he jumped back down. "Alright, here's the plan. We are going to sneak onto the bridge and rescue the workers. If they spot us or if it really is a trap you three will defend them. I'll try to judge their strength and draw the attention of their strongest ones on myself. Understood?"

The three kids nodded again to these orders, Hanabi visibly gulping at the thought of getting into a dangerous situation again. Having seen that Hinata put her hand on her sisters' shoulder, squeezing lightly to reassure her, that she had her teammates with her. It helped to calm the younger girl down a bit.

"I'm going with you. These are my men, after all." Tazuna stated with conviction. "If I don't show that I'm taking this serious, will we never finish this bridge."

Thinking about that for a short moment Kakashi agreed. "Alright. Leaving you behind would put you into danger as well, so better to stay close to us. That way we can at least defend you if needed."

Having decided on a plan the group started to move towards the unfinished bridge. The worker that informed them was the only one staying behind. He wasn't willing to put his life into danger for a second time this morning.

-on the bridge-

Shortly after the three genin, together with Tazuna, slowly approached the tied up workers. Upon getting closer they realized that all of them were also gagged and blindfolded, ensuring that they wouldn't cause any problem to the thugs that captured them. Still, leaving them unguarded was a move they would regret soon. Hanabi was the first to reach them and to her relief they still hadn't been spotted yet, by the men further onto the bridge.

Knowing that something was totally wrong, but willing to save these workers, Hanabi started to whisper. "Stay calm, don't make a noise. We are here to rescue you." Her voice startled some of the workers, and the one closest to her started to shake his head, trying to tell her no. But she wasn't paying attention, starting to undo the ropes keeping that person tied up.

Just moments later the rest of the group reached the prisoners as well and started to undo the ropes of other workers. "Everything will be okay. Gato went too far now and we won't tolerate that anymore." Tazuna spoke quietly to his men, helping with the bindings.

"I don't think so." A voice spoke up from within the group of prisoners, catching all four of them by surprise. They watched somewhat shocked when a figure stood up in the middle of the group, a sword in hand and ready to jump at the old bridge builder. "You idiot really came. It was a good idea to let that one fool get away." The guy was grinning and already in motion to get rid of Tazuna, who still wasn't moving from shock.

Hinata was the quickest to react, already moving to try and attack that man, but she realized that she wouldn't be quick enough. Naruto reacted just a moment later, already having two staff segments in hand, trying to get between the attacker and bridge builder, but he too wasn't quick enough. "Don't think so either." Kakashis voice was heard while he appeared right next to the attacker, kunai already buried into his chest. The man could only watch in disbelief before he died, quick and efficient. Reacting in time Hanabi grabbed his sword before the corpse could drop it and injure or kill the workers by accident.

"That trap really was too obvious. Now, quick, unbind them and get them away." Kakashi ordered, laying the corpse on the ground, his eye scanning the surroundings.

But before the kids got the chance to get back to the ropes they heard a loud scream echoing through the air, a heavily scarred man wielding a great sword charged straight at the group from the end of the bridge. "Shinobi, huh? Now that's a challenge I like!" he spoke with a grin, quickly closing the distance with the rest of Gato's vanguard on his heels.

"Protect Tazuna and the workers! I'll take care of that guy!" Kakashi shouted, already rushing to intercept the mercenary he recognized as one of the guys who C tricked prior, a kunai in his hand. He never managed to reach him however, as he quickly had to dodge two thrown knives aiming for his head, followed by a katana swing that awaited him on the spot he landed after the dodge. Looking up he recognized the other two mercenaries he saw before. The female grinning, new knives already in her hands while the male readied his katana, entering a fighting stance.

"You ain't gonna stop our 'dozer as long as we are here. Think your kids can handle him?" Revy asked with a smirk on his face.

"...and I still tell you it's wrong." Liane mumbled, but was loud enough to be heard by both her teammate and Kakashi. "At least now we have an opponent that can defend himself and don't have to slaughter civilians."

"If you know it's wrong, why are you doing it?" Kakashi asked curiously, entering a fighting stance himself.

"It's a job." Revy answered with a shrug before charging at Kakashi, katana ready to slice him up.

-with the kids-

Realizing that Kakashi wasn't able to reach the berserker coming their way, Naruto attached the last segment to his staff and gave a weak smile towards the girls. "Don't worry, I got that. Take care of the workers you two." Was all he said before making a single handsign, creating three shadow clones and moving towards the man that promised death to all of them. He was certain that the quality of his staff would be able to block his great sword, he just wasn't sure if he had enough strength to hold against it. But the clones proved to be useful against the Demon Brothers, so he had hope.

Angriff was laughing at the four Narutos coming his way. "Ya think that will stop me, kid? If anything will I laugh myself to death because of ya choosen colour." he shouted, raising his weapon over his head to drop it down on Naruto with a clean vertical cut through his body.

Gritting his teeth Naruto held his staff above himself, ready to catch the incoming blade. Two of his clones positioned themselves close to him to do the same, in order to block the huge weapon and the strength that would be behind that attack. All three of them went down on their knees on impact, but the staff wasn't breaking. The biggest threat in that moment was the strength itself, nearly crushing him on the bridge due to the weight pressing him down.

The force was constant and the first clone disappeared with a smoking explosion pretty quickly, a grin entering Angriffs face. "Ya know, I'm surprised. Yar weapon ain't half bad, but yar just a kid in the end. Was hoping for more fun."

"Don't underestimate me!" the last clone shouted while appearing on Angriffs left side, landing several hits with the staff on his arm. He looked in surprise before disappearing in a cloud of smoke as well, when the only reaction from the mercenary was to use this arm to deliver a punch at the clone. At least was the force behind the blade reduced and Naruto with his last clone was able to push it away.

"Ya got guts, kid. I'll give ya that much. But..." spreading his arms wide, holding the sword with his right hand, he showed off his scarred body. "...look at me, kid. I got way worse than what ya called an attack just now. I'm not gonna go down by someone like ya!"

Making a grimace in response Naruto formed the single handsign again. "We will see about that... Shadow Clone jutsu." he grumbled, creating another three clones to bring his fighting strength up to five people.

Starting to laugh the mercenary grinned. "An infinite supply of opponents? Now that could be fun. Alright, bring it, kid!"

-with the girls and Tazuna-

"Sis, take Tazuna and free the workers, I'll cover you two." Hanabi said with slight panic in her voice. Seeing that Kakashi was tied up with two of the mercenaries they saw before and with Naruto being pushed back by the third of them, having a hard time but somehow holding his ground. That left the sisters with a good dozen of other thugs that rushed their way. Their goal was clearly to kill Tazuna and the workers, something she wasn't willing to let happen. Taking a few steps in their direction, to get some distance between herself and the workers, she tried to think of a course of action.

Though the voices she could hear from the group weren't helping much. It was angering her, if anything at all. "Hey, look at that. Two little girls trying to protect 'em." One of the thugs spoke out loud, never slowing down a bit and quickly closing the distance.

"Yeah. Think Gato would pay us a bonus if we captured these two?" another one asked, a lecherous grin on his face.

A third one quickly responded, licking his lips. "You bet he will. Do you have any idea how much little girls are worth?"

That was it for Hanabi. Her mind snapped at that talking and she lost her temper. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you all about enslaving girls?" she shouted in anger, starting to do a set of handsigns.

The first thug started to laugh. "Look at that cute virgin. She doesn't know how life works."

"Uhm, say, her hands... is she a shinobi?" another of them asked, watching Hanabi sceptical.

While the mercenaries that were busy with Kakashi and Naruto were stuck some distance away from the captured workers, the group was nearly within reach by now. Hinata and Tazuna did their best to quickly unbind them, but it was clear that they wouldn't make it in time. But Hanabi's mind, despite being clouded by her temper, was focused enough to know that she had to buy her sister the time needed. Finishing her signs she pushed her hands on the ground. "Earth Style: Stepping Stones!" she shouted, lifting several stones that were worked into the finished parts of the bridge out of it.

The group of thugs wasn't paying much attention to them. Some hit the stones and fell, some didn't. The immediate effect was at least what she hoped for, to stretch the incoming group of enemies out a bit. Activating her Byakugan she barely noticed that one of the thugs fell on another, piercing the heart of the unlucky bastard already laying on the ground. A small part of her mind noticed that this was technically her first kill, even if it was indirect, she was still the cause of it.

But there was no time for her to think about it, as the first of the thugs reached her, weapon ready to strike. The sword came down on her from the upper left side and she quickly ducked under it, landing a hit with her clans Gentle Fist style on the guys stomach, letting him drop down to the ground while passing her. There was barely any time for her to react to the next threat, an axe coming from her right side, aiming low at her ducked body on knee height. A quick jump forward into the direction of the attacker with her knee connecting on the mans chin solved that problem as well. Said man dropped KO'd on the ground, the opposite momentum of his own movements and the incoming knee enough to knock him out.

Seeing one of their men barely moving and holding his stomach in pain, Hanabi wasn't too sure what she hit inside his body but it clearly was effective, and another one being knocked out with just one hit. The rest of the group stopped their run, eyeing Hanabi wary. Said girl took that moment to go back into a defensive stance, while inwardly cursing about this delay as it gave the men who stumbled and fell down time to get back up and join up with the rest of the group again.

"A feisty little bitch, huh?" one of them spoke, eyeing the young girl carefully. "Her ninjutsu sucks, but her taijutsu seems to be dangerous."

"Eh? You know about this stuff?" Another asked, looking over to the one who spoke first.

"Sure. There's always the risk to run into shinobi. Knowing at least some basics about them is vital, idiot." The first shot back, growling slightly.

"So, any ideas? It's just one little girl after all." Another spoke up, nodding in the direction where Tazuna and Hinata were still busy with the bound workers. "The reinforced rope was useful and all, but they won't be busy forever."

A quiet groan could be heard from Hinata about that comment. Next to her was a broken kunai that failed to cut the rope and even her Gentle Fist couldn't cut it, leaving her and Tazuna with undoing the knots manually as the only option.

"Eh? Simple. Overwhelming with numbers." The second said, bringing his sword in position and charging at Hanabi.

-with Kakashi-

He was troubled. The mercenaries he was fighting weren't shinobi, they weren't able to use ninjutsu or anything. But they clearly knew how to handle their weapons, as he was dodging Revys katana quite often and never managed to get a counterattack in as there was always a throwing knife precisely aiming for him whenever he tried. These two mercenaries were working great together he had to admit.

The troubling point for him however was the fact that he wasn't sure whether he wanted to kill them or not. He was certain that he could end it quickly with ninjutsu, but at least the female was doubting their actions to begin with. If he could influence them, talk to them to change sides, to protect the workers instead...

"Not half bad." Revy spoke up after Kakashi dodged another slash of his katana. "You got good reflexes and speed. But you are holding back, aren't you?"

"Right back at you. You know how to handle your weapon." Kakashi smiled slightly. "And you are correct. I'm unsure if I should kill you two or not. The logical thing would be to get this over with quickly and help my team, but..."

He ducked under another throwing knife that aimed for the side of his head. It was the first one thrown at him in an offensive way he noted, and not to protect the man he was fighting. "Ah, just shut up. I know exactly what you are trying to do here. Want to sow doubts within us, to confuse us til we give up or something. So what? Yes, I'm not happy with this contract, but it's still a contract. You as shinobi should understand that." Liane snapped at him. The sheaths attached to her clothes were already somewhat empty, having thrown a good third of her knives at Kakashi.

"Well, you got me there." Kakashi replied before disappearing from the spot he was standing, appearing behind the woman just to be greeted by yet another throwing knife. Dodging that one as well his smile intensified. "You got a good instinct. Let's see if it will help you." he spoke calmly, again flickering away to appear at another side of Liane. She was protecting her friend with her knives, but what if he changed his tactic and put pressure on her instead? The katana wielding man couldn't appear everywhere to return the favor.

He was still unsure whether to kill or not. The female at least was doubting that this fight was right and if he could pull them on his side, to get them to protect the workers, this might be a useful blow against Gatos men. You never knew who might follow their example as well.

-with Naruto-

Angriffs laughter was echoing over the bridge. It was a total blast for him, to cut down boy after boy without running out of targets. He wasn't even trying to defend himself whenever they attacked in a group, taking a few hits from the staffs without even flinching. "Well boy, that all ya got?" he taunted him.

Naruto was growling. No matter what he tried, even if he or a clone landed a hit, it was like that man before him wasn't feeling any pain. The only positive thing he could see right now was the fact that he was able to distract him, to keep him away from the workers and the girls. Watching another clone being cut down by that giant sword he thought about what else he could do.

All he did so far was train with his staff and he knew basic taijutsu. That wasn't much at all. There was also the point of him missing an element, which was the main reason why he hadn't tried to work on ninjutsu so far. But there must be something he could do. Something... anything... 'Wait a moment!' he thought to himself, watching the next clone disappear in smoke. 'What have I done when I was fighting that one brother... I was angry and... I focused my chakra on the staff, right? I think that was it. And we had chakra control training the other day...' his thoughts trailed off when his last clone got cut down after landing a solid hit on Angriffs side that the man wasn't acknowledging either.

"What's wrong, boy? No stamina left to give me more playmates?" He lifted the sword up on his shoulder, grinning down at Naruto. Expecting more entertainment he was waiting for a reaction, not wanting to cut the obvious original down as well just yet.

"Oh, I have. But I think I wanna try something new now." He answered with a wide smile on his face while already channeling his chakra not in his feet as he did for the tree walking, but in his hands to transfer it into his staff. It was an all or nothing situation, but considering his opponent he would loose anyway if he just continued on. There was a small tingling in his hands, a resonating feedback from his staff, which he took as a hint that if he wanted to attack he should do it now.

He charged the scarred mercenary head on. No new clones to fight or distract him, no diversion either. Shaking his head in disappointment Angriff readied his blade. "That ain't no fun, kid. Yar done for now." he stated calmly, ready to cut Naruto down.

-with the girls-

Not having waited for the others to agree or do something as well, the foolish bandit fell to the ground. His movements were sloppy and the swing of his sword was predictable, even without using her Byakugan. A simple sidestep was all she needed to avoid his attack and in return she hit him three times with her hands in the flank, effectively paralyzing the whole right side of his body.

"Last chance to leave us alone." she hissed out at the group of attackers standing in front of her, her expression clearly promising worse for the next one to come too close to her.

"The little girl is trying to threaten us, how cute." One of them chuckled, eyeing the bandit on the ground. "You know guys, his idea wasn't that bad at all. Ready?" He asked, seeing some nods both left and right of him. "Alright, then go!"

With that the ten bandits moved at once, aiming at her from different angles. She wasn't really thinking about it, adrenaline taking over, when she quickly formed another set of handsigns, pushing them on the ground. "Earth Style: Earth Wall!" She shouted, raising a wall wide enough to block off most of the bandits. There were even two or three curses to be heard, followed by a thump, when some of them weren't able to stop in time and crashed into it. That left only two attackers from her left side for the moment, each wielding a spear.

That quickly became a problem as these had longer range, making it harder for Hanabi to land an attack herself, while avoiding the piercing attacks from the spears. After some side- and backsteps, one of them actually managed to leave a scratch on her left shoulder, she growled and lunged out at them, quickly moving past the spearheads, leaving the two bandits defenseless. Her anger was taking control and she quickly ended both of their lives, landing clean hits on their lungs and hearts, blocking the function of these organs with her Gentle Fist.

Having decided that they had enough of that girl standing in their way, the rest of the group came around both sides of the wall, blindly charging at Hanabi now, trying to end it with overwhelming numbers. Hanabi, despite still using her Byakugan, had lost the overview of the situation with her anger taking over, only seeing the ones in front of her.

A scream behind her suddenly caught her attention and she took a quick glance before focusing back on her front, now sporting a grin on her face. Behind her stood Hinata who decided to join the fight after struggling with the knots. They could leave that task to Tazuna for now and still save the workers later, after the bandits were taken care off. The bandits coming at Hanabis back were surprised when the second girl, which they actually had forgotten about already, suddenly charged into their own flank, bringing down the bandit closest to Hanabi with precise hits of her Gentle Fist on his upper torso.

Hinata was pretty confident about the situation with these bandits being much weaker than the Demon Brothers they fought before. She wasn't afraid of their greater number either, willing to protect her mistress at all costs. That was the one thing she knew for sure, that got even clearer for her after having met with the Demon's slave in the forest. A small part of her mind was wondering if and when she might see her again.

-with Kakashi-

The change of tactic seemed to work in his favor. The woman was throwing her knives even faster now, emptying one sheath after another to try to keep Kakashi on distance. The man had a hard time trying to follow Kakashi, to stop him from attacking his friend. It worked just as planned, both of them getting tired through the continuous changes of direction and Kakashi even got pretty close to her a few times before he had to flicker away and try from another direction.

"You are quite good. But now I've got you." Kakashi spoke, dodging yet another knife and this time closing in on melee range. Liane was doing a backflip to dodge, one of her feet barely missing Kakashis head, before throwing another two knives at him during the last turn of the flip while her arms and body were on their way back up. He managed to avoid the feet aiming for his head and to dodge the first knife, but the second, thrown from this short distance, managed to leave a scratch at the side of his stomach.

A small smile entered her face seeing that she managed to hit him, before a curse left her lips the moment she completed her flip and felt a body behind her. Kakashi was quick to catch both her arms and pulled them behind her, securing her hands there, holding them tight with his own hand. His head was close to hers and he couldn't help but smile, something she wasn't seeing. "And that's 47. You are out of knives." he spoke quietly to her. "So, what now? Still interested to continue this fight? Or do you want to rethink your current contract?"

"How did you...?" she asked quietly, her breathing quick. She wasn't exactly the worst when it came to stamina, but with the pressure Kakashi put on her she used up loads of energy way faster than usual. "...the blonde card freak..." she answered her own question. There were only three people knowing the amount of blades she carried and neither Revy nor Angriff would tell anyone, only leaving the blonde man she allowed to get intimate with her.

"It's sometimes strange how events are connected, huh?" Kakashi agreed. "It was easy to count til you ran out of them. So?"

But before Liane got a chance to answer or even think about it Revy appeared behind them, finally having caught up to Kakashi. He too was breathing heavily, having tried to follow Kakashi's movements and to keep him away from his friend. "Get away from Liane!" he growled loudly, his katana already on his way down to cut Kakashi from behind. Too late did he realize that Kakashi flickered away again the moment he heard him growl, only leaving a confused Liane standing in the way of his katana. There wasn't anything he could do to stop his movement, the blade leaving a heavy cut from her shoulder down across her back to her hip.

She screamed in pain, falling down forward to the ground. Revy didn't waste any time, kneeling beside her right at the next moment. "Shit! Liane, you there? Hey, I'm sorry. Dammit..." he didn't care about the fact that Kakashi was still there, that his fight technically wasn't over yet. All he could think about was his friend he just heavily injured.

Spitting some blood to the ground she gritted her teeth. "Told you... got a bad... feeling... about it..." she pressed out of her lips, her breath growing heavy. The pain in her back was intense and she feared the worst. If her friends had just listened to her, if they had left...

"If I were you I would bring her somewhere safe and quickly do something about the bleeding. The damage might heal, but she'll bleed out if you don't attend that wound." Kakashi noted from some distance away, eyeing the injury on the woman's back.

"So you are not going to finish us while she is injured and I'm distracted?" Revy asked rhetorically while helping Liane up, half carrying and half dragging her along the bridge, trying to get down from it and away from the fights.

"From my point of view this fight is over." Kakashi shrugged. "All I'm asking is that you should rethink your allegiance with Gato." he spoke calm, turning away to leave towards his team, to see if his help was needed at another place.

Coughing up some blood Liane pressed out another word. "...agreed..." was all she said quietly, letting Revy guide her away. She knew before that working for Gato was wrong and she would clearly cancel that contract - if she survived.

-with Naruto-

Naruto was bringing his staff up while the blade of Angriff went down on him, the outcome of that pretty obvious to both of them as it was basically the same situation they had at the start of their fight. And there were it three Narutos trying to block and basically fail with it. It wasn't a surprise when the sword hit the staff, pushing Naruto down on his knees due to the sheer strength behind the impact, while he tried his best to not get crushed by it. "Was fun while it lasted." Angriff stated laughing, increasing the pressure on Naruto.

It was then that the blade actually managed to sink further down towards Naruto. For a possible onlooker would it seem like the staff was finally breaking, the huge sword finally cutting it in half. But both Naruto and Angriff had a different view on the situation, a smirk entering Narutos face. "Yup, it was fun, somehow. But I believe you are going to loose now." he spoke with a happy tune in his voice.

Angriff could only look in shock at the scene happening right in front of his eyes. He didn't understand what was going on and couldn't find words to voice his disbelief either. All he saw was that his sword indeed sank further down towards Naruto. But not because of his blade cutting the staff, but the staff melting the metal of the blade away at the point they were connected. When he finally snapped out of it, the staff was already halfway through his blade and his tries to get it free, to get it away, resulted in a match of strength as Naruto was desperately holding onto his staff, holding it in place.

In the end Narutos fight was futile, Angriff pulled his sword away in a strong pull that sent Naruto flying in the direction of that pull. He shifted mid-air to not land face first on the bridge but still let out a loud curse when he landed on his ass. That curse was quickly followed by the sound of metal landing on the stones of the bridge. They looked at the source of that sound with surprise written on both of their faces. "What the hell have ya done, kid?" Angriff shouted angrily, looking at the detached upper half of his weapon laying on the ground. His pull was too forceful, resulting in the damaged sword to simply break by that action.

He never got a chance to answer as Angriff was already charging at Naruto after speaking, the broken sword discarded, willing to finish off the boy with his bare fists. The anger clouding his actions also resulted in his attacks loosing efficence however, making it easier for Naruto to dodge them now, landing several hits in return. Again he did not acknowledge them, simply forcing the attack before he dropped down on his knees after a good minute of this.

Now with the movements gone were both of them able to see the effect these hits actually had on his body, as every spot Naruto hit was showing signs of burnings, some of them still smoldering. Making a grimace was he giving Naruto a somewhat twisted looking smile. "Ya ain't bad, kid. Not at all..." he spoke through gritted teeth. He wouldn't voice his pain, he never did. But he could feel that his time had come, that whatever Naruto just did to him had more than just an effect on the outside. He could feel the inside of his body heating up, his blood cloting, his organs dehydrating.

"Hey, you okay?" Naruto asked concerned, not knowing what to do or what he just did. He knew that it was an enemy on his knees in front of him, but he just couldn't help but worry about what he just did. Especially since he wasn't really sure about what he did at all. He barely tried to remember what happened against the Demon Brothers and to re-do it.

Angriff forced a smile on his face. "Yeah... just signed the wrong contract. Never leave the right side, ya hear?" His voice was trembling and getting weak. Naruto looked at the mercenary in surprise before he finally realized that his breathing stopped. He was still on his knees, not willing to drop down, not succumbing to the pains he felt. He stayed proud until his end, not showing any kind of weakness. Even in death he was living up to the nickname of 'Dozer' that Revy gave him years ago for always charging head first into a situation without even flinching.

"Not planing on leaving it..." Naruto said quietly and nodded to the man he had just killed. Taking a quick look around he walked over to the discarded parts of the blade and brought them over to his opponent, laying it at his side, before hurrying away to help the sisters.

-with the girls-

Hanabi was panting, the anger and rage still written on her face. By now she was sporting three injuries, the one on her left shoulder had gotten new friends at her right thigh and the left side of her stomach, but all of them were basically just minor scratches from weapons she couldn't dodge completely. Around her on the ground were the bodies of the bandits that attacked her. Some of them were still moving slightly, holding parts of their bodies in pain, while some of them were clearly dead.

She was sick of people talking about enslaving her and her sister, implying how they would basically defile and rape them. While she had no experience in these things she was well aware about the things that could happen. It was that fact that lead to her not thinking or caring about whether she killed these bandits with her Gentle Fist or just disabled them. And it would take some time for her to come down from her high, before she would think clearly and be able to realize what exactly she had done.

Behind her stood her sister. Her breath wasn't as heavy because she only joined the fight later and she hadn't used chakra draining elemental jutsu like the younger girl. Around her was a similar picture, just with the slight difference that more of the bandits laying on the ground were still breathing instead of being dead. But that didn't changed the fact that these too were in agonizing pain or completely paralyzed, Hinata having used her Gentle Fist effective. She too had an injury from a weapon and to her dislike on the same leg that got hurt during the fight with the Demon Brothers.

"I'm so going to need some rest for my leg once this mission is over..." she grumbled to herself. Her body relaxed a little and she deactivated her Byakugan once she scanned the close surrounding area and figured that there was no bandit left. Despite the numbers they were facing they did do a good job on them.

Taking several deep breaths to calm herself down Hanabi nodded slightly. "Granted..." she spoke quietly before turning around, a smile directed at her sister. "And thanks for the help."

Smiling back at her Hinata nodded slightly. "Don't mention it. But... what about the others?" her body tensed up again at the thought that both Naruto and Kakashi were still fighting and might need help. They were facing the stronger enemies after all.

Having her bloodline still active and a created wall blocking off any direct visual contact to their teammates she quickly checked the area further on the bridge. "Uhm... Spooky is coming back to us. The woman from before is severely injured and the man with the katana is helping her to get away. Seems like he let another one go, just like he did with C. And Naruto... there. He seems to be finished too." she spoke while observing the rest of the bridge.

"I'm glad..." Hinata spoke relieved, relaxing again.

It was then that a coughing got the attention of the two girls, both of them turning their heads to look at the source of it. "That's all fine and all, but... would you mind helping me with these ropes now?" Tazuna spoke slightly annoyed to them. Both of them had a combination of a smirk and an apology on their faces directed at Tazuna, before they went over to him to finally get his workers free.

XXXXX

 _ **Authors Note:**_ I believe I'm somewhat rusty. I can feel my English currently getting worse again, in the grammar section at least, and I'm needing longer to write. On the positive side stands that I actually managed to get someone to look over the chapter and correct the grammar thingies for once. It's the user named "Lahmikhara" who's also helping me with ideas from time to time when I'm struggling.  
All things considered somewhat late, but here you have it, still some progress.

I also tried out something new, fighting wise. Considering that there will often be fights with multiple locations and stuff - what do you think of this approach of a rotation? I believe it serves the purpose. That and with their skillsets still limited, uhm, yeah *shrugs* working on it. That was more or less the warm-up or something.  
And to give the random thugs a bit more character did I also add names, gave it all together more depth. But don't worry, they won't be added as additional OCs or something. They won't appear outside the Wave arc.


	31. Chapter 30 - Clash on the Bridge - 2nd

_**Author's Note:**_ Heya all. It's been a while, sorry for that. Life got stressful, work got problematic and stressful, stuff like that. Was totally in no motivation to write, then due to the longer break have I also lost my drive and flow (as you can easily tell in the last third of this chapter - both story- and grammarwise), had a two week vacation in between, which actually is the reason why I'm finally somewhat back to writing. At least a little.

Kinda stopped at 6k words when life screwed me and just recently picked it up again. The fact that I'm in the middle of a fight wasn't helping either. Still don't like writing fighting scenes. Easy to tell after reading that chapter, huh? Should maybe step away from writing Naruto as I'll always stumble upon fighting scenes along the way.  
On the other side do I still have a few intresting/crazy ideas for the chunin exams. And the events after Wave are more or less inside my head for months now too. Still... But I kinda think I lost a bit of sense in this chapter as well regarding Zabuza and Haku. Guess they are somewhat out of character. Though my whole story is somewhat out of the original as well, huh? Dunno...

Well, I somehow finished this chapter - I'm sure that I sadly made two step backwards in my writing style/skills - and hope that you still liked it. There's obviously a third part coming for the bridge, but I hope to get it done with the next chapter. And if I'm back to just story and emotions and stuff might I be able to get back into my flow. Maybe. We'll see.

XXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 30: Clash on the Bridge (Part 2)**

"You sure about that, boss?" one of the workers asked Tazuna. The sun was out by now and the captured workers untied, the surviving bandits now bound up instead. Despite the day having arrived was it still foggy, but it wasn't too bad just now, the sight not too much effected by it. The result of this morning was clearly visible by now. Five workers were dead in front of the bridge, the surviving ones, despite being injured themselfs, currently tending to their fallen friends.

On the bridge was a similiar image all together. At the location Hanabi and Hinata had their fight were slightly above a dozen dead men from Gato laying around, most of them killed by Hanabi as Hinata at least tried to not kill everyone. Their fury only survived 7 of them, most still unable to move too much with the girls either having hit organs or having paralyzed most of their bodies with the Gentle Fist. Some distance away, where Naruto fought, was Angriff still kneeling, even in death defying to go down.

"Of course am I sure about that. You really expect me to keep you around for work today after what happened here? Yes, I hired these Konoha shinobi as guards, but you do realize that this was just a small group of Gatos men." Tazuna answered, looking at his worker with authority. "I tell you, there will be more of them coming and I won't be risking any more of you getting injured or killed. Beside, I don't think that most of you are able to work today anymore anyway."

"You got a point there..." the worker nodded slightly. "Alright, we will be going home and take care of our friends and their families. You try not to die, you hear me?" with that was the worker on his way to help the others.

Once he was gone Tazuna sighed and sat down on the bridge, rubbing the back of his neck. Kakashi was watching him for a moment before speaking. "You really plan on staying here?"

Simply shrugging was he not even looking back at the shinobi. "What else am I supposed to do? My family went missing and we got no clue where they might be. Gato is after my head and even killed some of my men this morning. That so called Demon is most likely after me as well and if what your friend said is true there even is a mysterious Organization about to show up here and to complete the chaos." he let out a long sigh before finally looking back at Kakashi. "Tell me, what options do I have beside staying here and to wait for anything to come? If I leave now will they just regroup and try again later, right?"

"So you want to stay and be at least useful in luring them in, to end it one way or the other?" Kakashi asked neutrally, not looking at the old bridge builder that seemed to be even older right now.

"Something like that, I suppose. You going to abadon me now?" he was looking at Kakashi who now looked back at the bridge builder. Both stayed quiet, but their eyes spoke volumes to each other.

Some distance away were the kids sitting on the stones Hanabi raised from the bridge during the fight. She had calmed down by now, her mind thinking straight again. All three of them now realized that they actually had their first kills. Hinata was comforting her sister by holding her close and gently stroking her shoulder and back and Naruto watched them for a moment before speaking up. "Hey, you two okay? How bad was it?" he was honestly concerned about both girls.

"Don't know..." Hanabi spoke up first after a moment, as Hinata decided to let her go first. "I mean, I didn't really realized it, you know? I was... totally angered by what they said and implied." she shuddered slightly, both at the memory of their words but also her own actions. "I think scum like that deserved it. But they were still human." she shrugged helpless at the end.

"They attacked first and you gave them a chance to leave. You don't need to blame yourself, Hanabi." Hinata spoke gentle. "You fought to protect yourself, me, Tazuna and his workers. And I believe fighting to protect someone is always worth it."

A small blush entered Hinatas face the moment Hanabi started to giggle quietly. "Is that the reason why you saved me, sis?" the younger girl looked up at her sister, a small smirk on her lips.

"Well... yes... no... I mean... sort of?" her blush only intensified as she turned her head and looked to the side. "That question is no fair." she said quietly, shaking her head. "What do you want to hear? Because you are my sister? My mistress? Because I love you? Because we are teammates? It's our mission?" a single tear ran down her cheek as this question hit her way harder than it should have, showing that she too was troubled about the fact that she just killed for the first time. "It's because I can't stand the thought of being seperated from you!" she shouted the last part, also drawing in the eyes of Tazuna and Kakashi who interrupted their own talk for a moment to look over to them.

Feeling guilty was Hanabi changing positions, pulling her sister close to herself now and gently stroking her shoulder and back. "Sorry sis..." she said quietly. "I... just wanted to tease you a little. I... sorry, okay? Thanks for saving me back there."

Naruto had a smile on his face as he watched his friends, not wanting to interrupt their moment together. He too was troubled about the fact that he killed someone. Even worse to him was the fact that he wasn't sure how he did it. While his opponent wasn't showing any signs of the pain he must have felt was he still able to see it in his eyes - and he knew that he was responsible for it.

Seeing that Kakashi came over to them was he shaking his head to get his mind clear for the moment. He had time to think about it later. If he got distracted now would he only put himself and his friends into danger as the day just started and worse things may still come their way. "I can understand how you might feel right now..." Kakashi spoke up, gaining the attention of his team. "...and that you want to talk about it, to emotionally work it over. But I want you three to focus on our mission. Tazuna decided to stay here for the day and we will protect him. Keep your guards up."

Being the first on his feet was Naruto grinning at him. "We know that, Spooky. Just give them one more minute."

Both of them looked at the girls and Kakashi shrugged slightly. "You know that an enemy might take advantage of this situation right now, yes? And thinking too much about it will only make it worse and distract you."

"I demand some free time after this..." Hanabi mumbled quietly and glared at Kakashi while getting up together with Hinata.

His expression changed to a smile because the girls did understand the meaning of his words quicker than he thought they would. "We will talk about that after this. Now back to duty, both of you."

Some distance away

Zabuza and Haku were still on the roof they occupied early that morning to watch the events at the bridge. However, after the fights started was Zabuza laying down on his back, crossing his arms behind his head and closed his eyes. He wasn't that much intrested to watch them himself despite the fact that he could learn some things about his soon to be opponents. He would engage the Konoha shinobi anyway to get revenge for his tools they defeated, namely the Demon Brothers, even if he wouldn't have the order from Gato to get rid of the bridge builder.

The reason for his relaxed state was pretty simple. Haku was watching the fights with intrest and kinda narrated it to Zabuza, informing him about the abilities of the Konoha shinobi they used against the thugs. They knew that both girls had deadly taijutsu and one of them slightly defensive Earth style jutsu, that the boy only used his weapon and clones and that the Copycat held himself back a lot.

"The workers are leaving the bridge right now, Zabuza-sama. But it seems like the bridge builder and the Konoha shinobi are staying." Haku spoke to her master, her eyes still fixed on the bridge in the distance.

"Have I ever told you how impressed I am from your keen eyes? To be able to see that detailed on that distance, through the fog as well." Zabuza spoke to his slave while sitting up. He was thinking about his course of action for now, whether he should engage them right away or wait even longer. Not trusting Gato was he sure that more of his men would show up, but he couldn't say when.

"You have, master, on multiple occasions." the girl answered with a smile before tilting her head to the side and finally looking at Zabuza. "And you do know that I need it for the effective use of my senbon."

"I know, I know..." he waved his hand dismissingly. "Still, I can't help but being impressed about how useful my tool is."

"Whatever is needed to please you, Zabuza-sama." the girl replied without missing a beat, feeling happiness from this praise. "So, what is your plan?"

Standing up was he also taking his unique sword that laid next to him and fastened it on his back. "I suppose there is no real point in waiting any longer. We are going now. If anything unexpected happens..." he paused a moment before shaking his head. "Ah, screw it. I know that his men will show up. We'll deal with it once it happens."

Nodding to his orders was Haku pulling out her Kiri ANBU mask and put it on, a smile disappearing behind it. She couldn't wait to meet the kids she helped to capture back these years again, even if only in battle. Maybe she might get a chance to talk some more to her fellow slave, that thought was appealing to her. And if not would it be okay as well, as long as her master was happy with her.

On the bridge

The fog was suddenly becoming thicker, alerting Tazuna and the shinobi alike. It wasn't unheard of fog suddenly increasing, but knowing that they were matched against an opponent that actively used it to his advantage and knew a jutsu to create or intensify it was a dead giveaway to them. They formed a loose circle around Tazuna and looked into different directions, trying to see any kind of movement inside, but were unable. "Alright girls, your turn." Kakashi said with a low voice, waiting for his genin to give him a matching feedback.

Activating their Byakugan were both girls looking out into the thickening mist, searching for any clue about their soon-to-be attackers. Hanabi was the first to change her face into a frown. "Uhm, sis?" she asked carefully, not moving her head at all while her eyes tried to focus on anything inside the mist.

"I see the same..." was the slightly frustrated answer from Hinata, who tried to focus on anything inside the mist as well. A moment passed before she shook her head, starting to explain their problem to the rest of the team. "It's no use, Spooky... All I can say is that this fog is created by chakra, so it must be the jutsu of the Demon. And that is our problem... All I'm seeing is a white wall of chakra. The whole fog seems to be charged with it, with the exact same amount at every point..."

Hanabi nodded slightly. "I mean, it's not impossible for us to see something. Our own chakra for example is like a beacon inside the white. So we might be able to see the Demons slave. But I fear that we won't be able to spot the Demon himself..." she added quietly to her sisters explanation.

"That is a problem putting us into a disadvantage, but it can't be helped now." Kakashi pondered aloud, nodding slightly. "We will stick to what we talked about. I'll face the demon, you three will guard Tazuna."

The group fell silent after that, trying to figure out when and where the attack will be coming. Just a few seconds passed before... "Well, that's disappointing. And here I hoped that you would give me some vital information and that I could fight against the ones responsible for the loss of my tools." a voice spoke up behind everyone of the shinbi.

The group spun around to look into the center of the circle where they spotted Zabuza who casually stood there right next to Tazuna, leaning on the hilt of his sword that stood with the tip on the ground, a smirk on his face. The reactions of Naruto and Kakashi came at the same time, both of them carrying out an attack against the shinobi that managed to appear in the center of them unnoticed. Naruto had his staff, Kakashi a kunai in hand, both weapons missed as they passed through empty air.

A silent laugh echoed from the fog, mocking them for having missed. None of them could pinpoint the source of it with Zabuza having blend in with the fog perfectly. "Keep your eyes open. He can appear anywhere. Don't get distracted or seperated! And keep Tazuna save!" Kakashi ordered his team his eye scanning the surroundings careful, his grip on his kunai firm.

"And you think that will help you?" a whisper was heard, it was clearly Zabuza again. Feeling a shiver run down her spine by it, most likely because he stood right behind her while whispering, was Hanabi doing a quick movement of her arm to get a punch at him. But she too missed him, only hitting thin air, as Zabuza was nowhere to be seen again. Another laugh echoed over the bridge. "Not bad. Not bad at all. I can see why my tools might have had a hard time against you. But you are just kids after all. "

Tazuna was getting anxious, seeing how the so called Demon was obviously toying with the shinobi he hired. Thinking about it he also felt some kind of guilt. He had lied to a degree about this mission and basicly got a team matching to the amount of money it had cost him and that would have matched the parameters he informed them about. But being honest, he couldn't have known how dangerous the rumoured missing nin might be. That was at least what he was telling himself.

Hanabi let out a low grunt after having missed, her eyes trying again to find their enemy, but all she saw was her own team and a lot of white. She was getting frustrated and let out a breath she didn't even realized she held. Naruto noticed her emotions and tried to calm her down. "Hey, Hanabi-chan, relax. So far has nothing happened, right?" he spoke gentle, his eyes searching for movements inside the fog as well.

"Well, yes, but..." Hanabi started, but never managed to finish her sentence as a yelp from her sister was hearable. All heads turned towards her and the image surprised everyone. Hinata had a feeling that Zabuza would appear between her and Tazuna. She hadn't thought about it and simply threw a punch in the general direction her intuition told her. The yelp escaped her lips when her punch was blocked by Zabuzas sword who planed to throw a blow at the bridge builder himself. He was as surprised as everyone else that this girl anticipated his attack and managed to interrupt him, before he once again vanished inside the fog.

Shaking her head to get it clear again was she muttering to herself. "That was too close... glad he only managed to block with the side of his sword...". Her focus was restored quickly and she again looked into the mist, trying to figure out where exactly their opponent might be. She figured that they would have a big problem if they weren't able to locate this silent assassin or to dispose of the mist surrounding them, blocking both the regular visuals as well as their advanced Byakugan. Or to be more precise was the jutsu good enough to foil their bloodline, something none of the girls expected.

Following her own line of thoughts was Hinata throwing a few punches with her Gentle Fist aimlessly into the mist, observing the effect she had with her Byakugan. This didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the group and Kakashi quickly picked up on his genins thoughts. "Did it work, Hinata?" he asked quietly, knowing that Hinata just tried to cut or disable the chakra inside the jutsu created mist.

"Barely..." was her answer while shaking her head. "It's no help at all unless I'm doing it permanently with all my chakra. It's no option."

Zabuza watched the Konoha shinobi try their best to find him, to figure out his movements, to get rid of his jutsu. He had to admit that he was up against an intresting group. It was to be expected from Kakashi Hatake, the famous Copycat of Konoha, but his genin weren't too bad either. If anything had they good reflexes and he heard the rumous about the Hyuga clan from Konoha and their all-seeing eyes. At least was he certain that the girls were from this clan, the description of the eyes in the rumours matched on theirs. Just that he recently found out that it's possible to mock them at all. A smirk crossed his lips at this new knowledge.

However, all things considered did Zabuza get to the conclusion that the shinobi from Konoha were no match for him, as long as they were unable to spot him. And there just was no enjoyment for him if his prey was too weak. He planned his next attack to be the last.

Inside the village

Liane lay in a back alley on her stomach, her upper body free from any clothes she wore before. The pain got stronger from moment to moment and she was nearly unable to move anymore. That's why Revy decided that he just couldn't waste anymore time. Kneeling next to his friend was he putting bandages on her body, trying to reduce the bleeding from the wound he brought across her back. This was the only thing he could do right now before he could carry her towards a safe spot to treat her wounds in a better way.

"That's looking real bad." a voice spoke up behind him, slight concern in it. Neither Revy, he was just too focused on his friend, nor Liane, she just couldn't move her head, looked at the person who had spoken. It got silent for some moments with him simply continueing to work.

"I know that..." he answered after a while, still not looking back at the other person. "Why do you think I'm treating her right here in a back alley?"

"Fair enough." the person spoke. "Care to tell me what happened?"

Not really thinking about it did Revy shrug. "The bridge builder hired Konoha shinobi. We never really stood a chance. Though her injury was an accident."

"Hmm, that's not good, isn't it? So I take it that these guys are still at the bridge?" the unknown person dug deeper, prying for information.

"Yeah, I believe they stayed there. After all do they want to complete the building and the workers were there too." he was halfway done bandaging his friends wounds. "Though from what I know will Gato send more men later this day anyway. Suppose you are informed about that?"

"Huh?" the person spoke in surprise before catching his composure again. "Yeah, sure, I do. You know, she won't survive if she won't be treated soon." he quickly switched topics, hoping that his slip up went unnoticed.

"That's why I'm bandaging her right here. Once I'm done will I take her somewhere else." Revy answered slightly annoyed, but still not looking at whoever he was talking to.

There was another moment of silence before the other person let out a sigh of disappointment. "That's really a shame. I'm sure she could have fetched a good price. Too bad she won't survive for me to sell her..."

That finally was the moment that Revy thought about checking who he was talking to. Because that last statement didn't sat too well with him. And in addition to that would Gato not enslave his own hired men, or to be more precise, women. Turning around, his katana already in hand, was he glaring at the person standing there. Though there wasn't much he could tell about it, as the sturdy men wore a full body suit covering basicly everything except for his eyes. "What the...? Who the hell are you? What do you want?"

He never got an answer to his questions. Everything happened way too quick for him to even react, despite all his fighting experience. The kunai cut through his throat before he ever got the chance to level his katana against the unknown man. But even if, it would have been questionable how effective he could have defended himself out from his kneeling position.

J watched the now dead man fall to the ground, wiping his kunai clean and putting it back into a hidden pocket. "Too bad you turned around. I actually considered letting you live for telling me these informations so willingly. At least do I now know that this Gato guy might appear at the bridge. That's valueable. And if the Konoha shinobi are there as well, just the better for me. They might be able to answer me a few questions..." he spoke more to himself than anyone, not really caring about the fact that he had a listener.

"You... monster..." Liane spat out weakly, accompanied with blood running out of her mouth. She wasn't able to see whoever just killed her friend, but she heard everything and knew that she was alone now.

That only brought her a chuckle from said attacker, before he spoke again. "Seems like I'm right. Even though you are in extreme pain from your injury are you not showing many signs of it. You are taking the pain like a pro. It's really a shame... the price I could fetch for such a pain resisting woman..." he let out another disappointed sigh and turned to move away. "Really, I would save you if I had the time. So yeah, have fun dying."

The voice was getting quieter during his last sentence, informing Liane that he really walked away, leaving her in the back alley to bleed to death. She closed her eyes but couldn't stop her tears from coming out of them. But it wasn't the fact that she was about to die that brought these tears out, it was the fact that both her friends were dead. And she wasn't able to do anything to protect them.

Her weak sobs echoed quietly through the fog and village. While the sun was out by now, was activity still low. By the time someone would spot the two bodies in the back alley might she be gone for hours already.

On the bridge

For the second time moved Zabuza in for the kill on the bridge builder. If he killed Tazuna would Gato shut up at least once and he would have all the time and focus he needed for the Konoha shinobi. Having lost two tools to them really wasn't sitting good with him. His sword was already on it's way towards the bridge builder, when for the second time he got interrupted. This time was the orange clad boy suddenly in the way, his staff blocking the blade he carried. The worst part was the happy grin the boy sported. "How?" was all Zabuza said in surprise.

"You smell." was the plain answer from Naruto, the grin never leaving his face.

"Funny." was Zabuzas only reply before disappearing into the mist again, never giving any of the Konoha shinobi a chance to attack him. But he slowly started to get frustrated that they somehow managed to block him every time despite the fact that they weren't seeing him. Maybe if he would change his tactic a little?

The next time he was seen was he slowly walking towards Kakashi, his sword resting atop his shoulder, a grin on his face. Kakashi was the first to spot him obviously, quickly putting the pieces together. "Don't tell me you are done with your attempts of silent assassinations already? I don't buy it. You wouldn't give up your advantage that easily."

"Whatever you say, Copycat." Zabuza replied with a slight shrug and bored tune, bringing the sword in position in front of him, poiting at the Konoha jonin. "I don't really care what you are thinking, but if you decide to ignore me will it be a mistake." and with these words was he doing a leap forward to close the gap towards Kakashi.

Quickly reacting was he also doing a leap towards Zabuza, to intercept him before he would reach the rest of the group. If they were fighting too close to Tazuna and the genin might they be hit by accident, something Kakashi don't want to risk. A kunai in his hand was he prepared to clash with Zabuza, just to get surprised by the missing nin quickly correcting his momentum, taking a leap backwards into the mist, trying to lure Kakashi away from his team.

Realizing what Zabuza planed Kakashi stopped his own moving, just to get a kick in his back from a second Zabuza - or was it the same that again used the mist for his advantage for quick and unseen movements, he wasn't too sure - that seperated him even more from his team. With the thickness of the mist was he already out of their sight, but the two Hyuga girls could still spot his chakra inside the mist easily.

But instead of panicking or following their sensei were they simple switching positions slightly, still guarding Tazuna with a loose circle formation around him. Kakashi's plan was to face against Zabuza from the beginning and for them to guard Tazuna. The seperation might not have gone as planed, if there was a plan for that at all, but they trusted the man that saved their lifes twice already.

The more loose formation and the distraction of their sensei disappearing inside the mist was enough for Zabuza however to bring another plan into movement. A yelp from Hanabi catched the attention from the others. Turning their heads were they seeing Zabuza - it couldn't be the real one as he was fighting against Kakashi right now, right? - having grabbed the little girl into a hold from behind and pulling her into the mist. It was clear that he tried to seperate their team from each other and their target of protection.

Deciding to help her sister was Hinata starting in the direction she was currently pulled away, just to be stopped by a warning from the younger girl. "Don't! Sis, behind you!" was all the girl managed to shout before her mouth got covered by one of Zabuzas hands. But it was enough for Hinata to react and turn around, seeing yet another Zabuza charging at her out of the mist. All she could do was dodge the incoming sword and enter a defensive fighting stance.

Naruto cursed his bad luck. He wanted to help both Hanabi and Hinata, but he wouldn't leave Tazuna, not this time. It was obvious what was going on, that Zabuza tried to split them all apart, to finish them off individually. Or, if he would leave Tazunas side now, to just kill the bridge builder off. He was just unsure about what was actually going on, how that many Zabuzas could be present. Maybe some kind of wisp-illusionary-inside-the-mist kinda thing?

While Narutos imagination ran wild with him and with Hinata dodging one sword sweep after the other was Hanabi getting furious. She questioned herself for a moment why their opponents always went after her to capture or drag off, to get into physical contact. The anger that was still somewhat present from the encounter with the bandits before took over and she clenched her hands into fists, just now realizing that Zabuza was holding them together at her back. And he was standing body to body right behind her, right within her reach.

A smirk entered her face below the hand that covered her mouth and she concentrated her chakra into her hands, preparing some hits with her Gentle Fist. There was no precision, she simply discharged her chakra via her hands, but it had the effect she wished for. Due to the close proximity did she hit Zabuzas body, resulting in him loosening the grip on her hands, which in turn she used to start struggle even more. It were mere seconds before she got a hand free that quickly found it's way towards the head of the Demon and connected, releasing another spike of chakra.

A shrill shriek echoed through the mist when the Water Clone from Zabuza dispersed, drenching the young girl completely with ice cold water. That was the last thing she expected and it hit her totally off-guard, but lucky for her was there no follow up attack, nobody to take advantage of her being distracted for some seconds.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief after hearing the shriek from Hanabi and realizing that his friend was save. It was then that his mind finally made the connection he was missing: Zabuza was using Water Clones. So a simple Clone jutsu. Something he too was able to do. He could use his Shadow Clones to support the girls, a realization that brought a frown upon his face for a second because he hadn't thought about that earlier. And that after he already used them against that huge scarred mercenary before.

Shaking his head was he forming the sign for the Shadow Clones with his hands, just to get interrupted by a needle piercing itself into one of his hands, distracting himself and interrupting his chakra flow. It was more surprising than painful and he looked around with wary eyes, trying to figure out where that needle came from. But with the visibility limited by the mist was there only one option left for him.

"Hey Hanabi-chan!" the shout from Naruto snapped the young girl out of her shock after being hit by the ice cold water and she hurried back over towards Naruto, who continued speaking to her. "I think there is another enemy here. I just got hit by a senbon. Think it could be the Demons slave?"

Taking a quick glance around the bridge with her Byakugan Hanabi shook her head. "I'm not sure, but I can't see anyone. This chakra infused mist is really giving me trouble here..." she spoke quietly before focusing her eyes on Hinata. "Please go help her. I'm staying with Tazuna."

Confirming this Naruto made a quick start towards Hinata, quickly closing the distance. Said girl was still dodging the attacks from Zabuza but was already getting tired from not getting any second to catch her breath. Zabuza had a frown on his face and let out a low growl when his next attack got blocked. But it wasn't the blonde boy he saw coming his way. "Nice try with the Water Clones, but you won't get rid of me that easily." Kakashi spoke, deflecting the hit with his kunai. "Besides, I seem to recall telling you that I'm your opponent here."

Hinata took a deep breath and some steps backwards to finally get some air into her system, entering a defensive fighting stance. Having reached her Naruto took a stance himself, forming a second defensive line together with Hinata behind Kakashi. "You really planning on fighting me alone, Copycat?" Zabuza asked mockingly, a small grin on his face. "You are either overconfident or a fool. Do it, Haku!" he shouted the last part, alerting the Konoha shinobi on the bridge. Both sisters were again searching the mist with their eyes, trying to find the Demons slave.

Just moments later was a voice whispering inside the mist. "Ice Style: Chilling Mist." was hearable before the temperature slowly started to fall. It wasn't too bad just yet, the first one to realize it being Hanabi. It was less the fact that she had nightmares because of that jutsu but more the fact that her clothes were still drenched from the Water Clone, transfering the falling temperature on her body directly.

-with Kakashi-

"Let's see how good your kids really are, shall we, Copycat?" having left the clash of weapons Zabuza stood a slight distance away from Kakashi, watching him with a grin. "Knowing your reputation will you stick on me to avoid giving me a chance to disappear again and get a sneak attack against either the bridge builder or your genin. That's fine with me. I'll get rid of you first, no problem. Beside, to underestimate my tool will proof fatal."

"Just tell me why you are doing this. I'm pretty sure it isn't your loyalty towards your employer Gato." Kakashi replied, lifting his headband up to reveal his second eye, sporting the Sharingan, the bloodline from the Uchiha clan. A red eye with 3 black points in it.

"Yup, that's right. Gato is an asshole to be frank and I couldn't care less about that bridge builder over there. But your team is responsible for my loss of two tools, and that's something I'm taking personal. Shall we then?" and with these words was he charging at Kakashi again, his sword being blocked by Kakashis kunai. Ice cold eyes meeting Kakashis Sharingan and both of them knew that moment that one of them would most likely die here, if they wouldn't be interrupted.

-with Hinata and Naruto-

"That's the slaves jutsu. She must be around somewhere. Be careful." Hinata whispered, carefully searching the bridge for any signs of movement, for a new chakra signature to come closer. "And keep your body temperature up."

Trying to follow that advice Naruto started to slightly jump up and down on the spot to get his body heated up, his eyes too trying to find anything inside the mist. A movement in the corner of his eyes snapped his attention and his head turned. "I think I saw something just now. At the left side, towards the beginning of the bridge."

Focusing her sight in said direction was it silent for some moments before a small smile crossed Hinatas lips. "Good catch, Naruto-kun. I got her. She's trying to get around us and to reach Hanabi-sama and Tazuna. Let's intercept her!"

Hinata was already on her way with Naruto following close when both started for a short sprint to intercept the Demons slave. Just that as soon as they started to move said slave already stopped in her tracks, waiting for the two Konoha shinobi to reach and block her route off. Both genin entered a fighting stance some distance in front of the slave who in return placed a hand on her hip and cock her head slightly. She wore a green battle kimono and her face was covered by a white Kiri ANBU mask with red markings.

"I'm surprised, if I'm honest. Not only have you two noticed me, but you are taking the drop in temperature way better than the last time." she spoke up, her voice trying to cover up any kind of emotion. "But on the other side shouldn't I be surprised, should I?"

"You mean after I told you that I would do anything to protect my mistress, don't you?" Hinata replied quietly, a small smile crossing her face. "Well, I got multiple reasons right now to fight you here. Still, I never thanked you for helping me realize some things and I would like to do it now before we engage each other."

"So, you figured me out? Well, I'm happy that a fellow slave understood important things. There really is no reason to thank me for that. But to think that we would meet again at all..." the girl trailed off, a small smile forming on her lips below her mask. "You can believe me when I tell you that I'm relieved that you seem to have gotten away from them that day."

"Doesn't change the fact that you helped them capturing us..." Naruto said in a low hiss, his eyes glaring at the girl in front of him. "And right now are you trying to hurt my friends. I can't let you do that."

"Orders are orders and a tool like myself or the girl there...", she nodded in Hinatas direction, "...have to listen and follow them. Nothing personal, really. Shall we?". With her last words did she draw three senbon with each hand and made a dash start towards Hinata and Naruto who both were more then determined and ready for the fight to come.

-with Hanabi and Tazuna-

Her whole body was shivering by the sudden drop in temperature, her arms hugging her own upper body and rubbing up and down her sites trying to warm herself up. Hanabi knew whom they were up against and she expected to be confrontated with this jutsu again. In fact was she mentally prepared for this situation. The only thing she hadn't considered, because there just was no way to anticipate something like that, was that she would be drenched from head to toe by the time the jutsu got used.

"Damned, girl, you need to get out of these clothes. You'll catch yourself death if you don't dry up." Tazuna spoke worried, his eyes nervously darting from left to right. "Besides, I don't think that you are able to fight in this state either."

"I'm... not going to undress in front of you..." the young girl replied with a slight blush on her face, her eyes glaring at the old carpenter. "Besides... my spare clothes are at your house. Even if I wanted to, I can't change." her eyes too focused back on the mist, darting in different directions, towards every noise that could be heard from within. The visibility was so low that none of them could see neither Kakashi nor Hinata and Naruto and their respective opponents.

"But you can't fight in this state either, can you?" Tazuna asked with a slightly annoyed voice. He kinda felt like he would be talking to his stubborn own grandson right now, that just want to defy him.

"And you think it will be easier or better for me if I'm naked?" Hanabi snapped back.

"I'm thinking more that you are a liability for your team right now. If it weren't for your teammates keeping the enemies away, you think we would be able to have this discussion now?" he replied with slight frustration. Waiting for a reply from the girl, one that wasn't coming, let he out a sigh and threw a blanket in her direction. "At least dry yourself a little and warm up. To die isn't high on the list of things I wanted to do today."

Not wasting any time Hanabi put the blanket around her. And wasn't helping much at all, but it was better than nothing. "Where did you..." she started quietly, looking back at the carpenter.

Tazuna simply pointed to some crates that were standing close by. "Emergency supplies. This is the construction site of a bridge after all and not every day goes without incident. And as said, dieing isn't high on my to-do list."

"Thanks..." came a mumbled reply from Hanabi while she tried to do the best with the single blanket she got. She knew of course that she couldn't really fight with her clothes starting to freeze on her body but her alternatives weren't that much better. And she still couldn't really like Tazuna, not to mention his suggestion of undressing. Yes, it was logical to get rid of the drenched clothings, but her emotional site was totally against that.

She wasn't too sure whether she wanted to fight right now. It might warm her up due to the physical energy she would need to use, but fighting right now could also mean a quick loose. All she could do was to wait, as all of her teammates were currently fighting and she stuck with their client to protect.

-with Kakashi-

Kakashi and Zabuza were trading blows with their weapons, clashing with each other quite frequently. Once one found an opening to exploit was the other already gone with a dodge, avoiding being hit. Having the larger range due to his weapon was no real advantage for Zabuza and Kakashis slightly higher speed wasn't one either. All things considered were they fairly even matched. Though it was pretty obvious that both were holding back, none of them having used any kind of jutsu yet.

"You may say that you are doing it because of your loss of the Demon Brothers, but be honest, you don't really want to fight here. So why are you forcing yourself?" Kakashi asked during another weapon lock, watching Zabuzas reaction carefully.

"And what about you? You are holding back as well, Copycat." came the reply from Zabuza without missing a beat.

There was a slight shrug from Kakashi, as much as their current position of crossed weapons allowed. "I'm just lazy and don't see a reason to go all out against an opponent that don't want to fight. Your call."

Raising an eyebrow came Zabuzas reply with a small portion of disbelief. "Are you just that stupid or really that unmotivated? My tool is eventually going to kill your kids and you are saying stuff like that?" he shook his head slightly. "But fine, I'll answer you. I'm more upset about Gato. He's treating us badly and weren't it for his order to kill the bridge builder would I haven't lost my tools to your team in the first place."

"Huh, a reasonable argument from the infamous Demon of the Mist? I have to say, I wasn't expecting that." the moment he finished his sentence was he ducking down, barely getting away from a suddenly quick horizontal slash from Zabuza aiming for his head. The Demon had used the moment of surprise from Kakashi to dissolve the current clash and throw the blow. "So, why not turn away from Gato if you can't stand that guy?"

"And then what? I'm a missing nin with a reasonable bounty on my head, distrusted by everyone for past crimes. It's not like I've got a place I could go to at all." Zabuza replied with a snarl, readying his weapon for the next attack.

"So? I've got a bounty too, you know?" came a rhetoric reply from Kakashi before he disappeared from sight, reappearing behind behind Zabuza for his next attack.

-with Hinata and Naruto-

Haku was smiling below her mask. Her eyes were fixed on Hinata and Naruto who managed to fend her off in close combat. All things considered was she not able to use her speed to her advantage just yet. But compared to her opponents was she still fresh while Naruto and Hinata were already breathing heavily, the low temperatures due to Hakus prior jutsu not really helping at all.

"You two aren't bad. Not bad at all." she complimented, her smile still hidden by her mask. "Though, taijutsu never was my strong point to begin with. But you are still standing and that means a lot."

"Why are you fighting us?" Hinata demanded to know while trying to slow down her breathing. "Just because you are a slave and got ordered to do so?"

"Yes." the answer was plain and simple, but the effect of it was clearly visible as both Naruto and Hinata tensed up. After a short break did she continue. "I'm a tool and a tool is only useable as long as it's functioning. And my function is to follow my masters orders and to fight for him."

"But... that's sad. There must be more in your live. I mean, there has to be something!" Naruto protested loudly, eyeing the masked girl carefully.

Bending her head to the side was Haku pondering over Narutos words for a moment. "Coming from someone who doesn't really has something himself does it sound kinda weak, you know?" she said while shaking her head slowly. "And don't try to deny it. I can see it in your eyes. In fact do you have even less than myself."

"That's not true. He got me and my sister and other friends. And that for years now. We won't turn him down just because he got a demon sealed inside him!" Hinata blurted out without really thinking about it, but quickly realized what she said. Both her hands raised to cover her mouth in an instant, but the words were already spoken.

Naruto wasn't sure how to react and looked at Hinata with a surprised expression. But before he got a chance did Haku speak up again. "A jinchuriki, huh? So it's a fight between three tools here. In that case..." her hand rose to take the mask off, revealing her still smiling face. "...I won't be holding back anymore. To think that I would fight equals..."

"She's really pretty..." Naruto let out in awe, already forgotten the fact that he was facing an enemy and that his status as jinchuriki was just revealed.

"I know, right?" Hinata agreed. She however was still focused and saw the handsigns the girl in front of them started to do. "Naruto, watch out!"

"My name is Haku and I'm a tool. Remember that, if you survive. Now let's see how well you do if I increase the distance and the speed. Ice Style: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!" Haku finished her handsigns and the temperature did drop a little more, with several mirrors made from pure ice appearing around them in a dome like formation.

-near the bridge-

"Hey boss, you sure that's a good idea? I mean, it feels kinda like we are going to put ourselfs right into a trap set up by us."

Gato looked at the thug that dared to question his orders with disgust. "Of course it is. They won't expect us to appear at the end of the construction site. Besides, we got the Demon and our vanguard up there, the fight will most likely be over by the time we arrive anyway. Now hurry and board the boats."

His men were letting down boats into the water and boarded them, starting to row towards the unfinished bridge, to climb it using the ladders left by the construction workers at the pillars supporting the bridge. The plan he was following was pretty simple. Get rid of the bridge builder once and for all and set an example that this area belongs to him, that he could do as he pleased.

"Oh, and the next one questioning my orders will never question anything again. Am I clear? Now hurry up, scum. I got better things to do than dealing with that old man Tazuna..."

-with Hinata and Naruto-

"What is this jutsu? They are... mirrors?" Naruto asked confused, looking around the dome in which's center he and Hinata were standing. A dreadful feeling was entering his senses.

"They are created by chakra, Naruto-kun. We should get out of here." Hinata whispered to him, she too wondering about the use of these mirrors. But it was an enemy jutsu after all, so it must have it's purpose.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Haku asked with a smile and nostalgic tune. "Still, nobody that ever entered came out alive. And there is no way for you to get out either." she said before stepping backwards, right into one of the mirrors. Just a moment later was her image projected out of every mirror present. "You can't challenge my speed now. You should better give up."

Not waiting for anything to happen Naruto made a headstart for an opening between two mirrors, trying to get out of the enemies jutsu. Haku's smile vanished and every image of her pulled out three senbon with her right hand, before disappearing for a short moment and reappering just a second later inside every mirror, just that the senbon were gone.

Naruto however let out a groan and flew backwards towards the center of the dome again, the senbon stuck in his left arm. "Damned, what was that? I didn't even saw that one coming!"he cursed loudly, pulling the senbon out.

Hinata too looked surprised, being at his side right away to help him up. "You alright, Naruto-kun? Even with my Byakugan did I barely see her moving. But I could see it at least slightly."

"Last chance for you to give up. There's just no way that you can keep up with my speed now. You don't want to end like a needle cushion, won't you?" Haku said in a singsong voice, the smile back on her lips.

Looking at each other did both of them nod, their expressions showing determination. Placing themselfs back to back were they ready to defend against everything Haku might be having for them. And so far was all coming from her the thrown senbons. Hurtful, yes, but clearly not fatal. It couldn't become too bad for them.

Haku's smile switched into a grin and just moments later was her image gone from every mirror again, the next set of senbon already flying towards her victims. And it wouldn't be the last...

-with Hanabi and Tazuna-

"Stop being stubborn. Neither can you fight nor help your friends in your condition!" Tazuna scolded Hanabi. Said girl watched her sister and teammate being entrapt in a dome formed by chakra created ice mirrors. She held the blanket tightly wrapped around her body, nearly resctricting her from movement, in an attempt to somehow warm up. Something that didn't really worked considering her still drenched clothes and the low temperature. "Besides, weren't you told to guard me?"

"How am I supposed to guard you, if I'm unable to fight, as you just said?" she argued back at Tazuna without even looking in his direction. She could see him just fine with her Byakugan. "Might as well help them against the Demon's slave."

"And end up in the same situation as your friends because you are no help right now, which would leave me open for attacks from anyone that might be around just waiting for an opening. I am the one they are after." Tazuna rolled his eyes while replying to Hanabi. He was really starting to question himself whether it was wise to let such a young girl become a shinobi. She was just too naive and stubborn in his opinion. Not that he could change anything regarding the current situation they were in.

Turning towards Tazuna was a scowl on Hanabi's face. "In case you didn't notice, we are the ones putting our lives on the line just now to keep you save. And there on the bridge, inside the fog, are my sister, a close friend and my sensei currently fighting an enemy while I'm stuck with you right here, unable to help them. You think I'm not taking it serious, right? Well, surprise, I do!" the moment she finished her speech she sneezed, rubbing her nose.

"Alright, fine, I got your frustration and all. But it doesn't change the fact that you are currently unable to fight unless the temperature rises again or you get a change of clothes." he was again back to scolding Hanabi. Her stubborness reminded him too much on his grandson Inari. If he just knew where his daughter and grandson might be right now, if they were safe...

What none of them noticed because of their loud argument was the sound of the paddles and boats inside the water below them. Something they might have heard if they weren't that loud and distracted by themself. Something Hanabi might have seen with her Byakugan, if she had focused on the surrounding area instead of the fights and her client.


	32. Chapter 31 - Clash on the Bridge - 3rd

_**Authors Note:**_ Heya all *waves* yup, I'm still around. It's just that life, work, stress, work, health issues, work... you know, the usual crap *shrugs*

So, without much to say (besides of the usual about this chapter being mostly unchecked and that my english grammar had most likely suffered the last months (sorry)), hope you enjoy that chapter. I also read the previous two chapters again myself and am sure I didn't create any logical loops or holes.  
It's the end of the fight on the bridge - and next in planing are some story chapters. Maybe I get to work on them a bit quicker, as I'm more fond of story compared to fights after all.

Oh, btw, I wrote a short bonus chapter at X-Mas. It's located inside my other "story", if you haven't seen it yet.  
I mean, if you are intrested and all. Now, on to the chapter.

XXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 31: Clash on the Bridge (Part 3)  
**

"You are looking agitated, uncle." Neji noted clinically while walking together with Hiashi through the streets of Konoha.

And in fact was this a matching observation. One that even a blind person might have been able to make, considering that Hiashi usually wasn't asking his nephew to accompany him. On top of that was his face showing restlesness to no end, something you actually rarely saw on the usually collected and calm head of the Hyuga clan. "Is this about Hinata and Hanabi?"

"How observant of you." he answered without looking at his nephew. "Though I guess our whole clan could tell right now." he let out a quiet sigh, not really caring that he was out in the streets of Konoha, that others might see him in this state. "At first did I think it to be a good thing how Hinata changed. After all, she was pretty useless when she was meek and shy, afraid of everything and herself. I thought that her friends would be a good influence, that I might have to overthink the position of my heir again, to give it back to her..."

Neji was keeping quiet, simply waiting for his uncle to continue. In fact couldn't he care less about his uncle's problems. He didn't like him nor his cousins too much, especially against Hinata was he having a grudge from the very beginning. But he kept quiet out of respect for the position of clan head his uncle was sporting.

"...but what shall I do now? I'm out of ideas. Yes, I'm glad that both my daughters are going to be fine kunoichi, that I'm having two potential heirs, but... Their situation... I just don't know what to do. And they are on the same team, something unheard of. What if something goes wrong on one of their mission, letting me loose both heirs at once? Say Neji, what shall I do? We didn't really seperate on good terms the last time we saw..." he was finally looking at his nephew, the blank expression the boy showed hurting him on the inside. Not only his daughters, but his nephew too. Was he just bad with kids in general or did it only apply to his family?

"You aren't expecting me to comment on that, are you uncle? Because having children is nothing I could say I have, leaving me without experience in this area." he spoke firm. "But you are right in one point. If they fail a mission might our clan loose both heirs. And from what I heard did the Hokage skip D rank missions right away and sent their team on a C rank as their first..."

"What?!" Hiashi interrupted his nephew, a slight tune of disbelief within his voice. "You must be kidding me, they are just out of the Academy. And where did you hear that anyway?" that got his attention. Yes, he knew that his daughters got Kakashi Hatake as sensei, one of the most talented of the younger shinobi within the village of Konoha which even he had to admit. But sending a freshly assigned team on a C-rank right away, even with a talented jonin leading it, was pure madness in his eyes.

"Two assistants of the Hokage were talking about it when my team came back to report a mission. Something about an escort mission to the Land of Waves to guard the construction of a bridge." Neji answered with a small shrug. He really couldn't care less.

Hearing these words was Hiashi paling slightly, not that most could tell considering the normally pale skin of the Hyuga clan in the first place. But he had reasons for that, as he heard from his friend Inoichi that they were currently holding two C rank missing nins at T&I that got captured close to the Land of Waves.

Trying to collect himself was he taking a deep breath. "Thank you for this information, Neji. I wasn't aware of this yet. I managed to made up my mind, thanks to you. You are dismissed." with these words was he walking off towards the Hokage tower. And he indeed made up his mind. Not about his daughters though, but that he should have some serious words with the Hokage about the mission he sent his daughters on.

Neji simply shrugged and changed directions to walk towards the nearest training grounds. Now that he was free could he work a bit more on his skills. What none of them really noticed or cared about at that moment was the random villagers they left behind, that managed to see two rare things this day. The first being the head of the Hyuga clan in the company of his nephew, a sight rare by itself. The second was the head of the Hyuga clan showing emotions, in public nonetheless.

On the bridge, with Naruto and Hinata

"Down!" was all Hinata shouted before pushing Naruto to the ground. Said boy was surprised for a moment, before he realized why Hinata acted like that, when the next thing he saw were senbon dropping to the ground right in front of his face. They were aimed at the location he just stood a moment ago.

She was doing her best to block off the senbon that came flying from every direction, forcing them to stop and to the ground by releasing small portions of chakra in quick succesion. At this moment was she glad that she trained this defensive move, first under surveillance of Kakashi with Hanabi shooting stones, later by herself with the Water Needles. The only real difference to the situation she found herself in right now was the fact, that these thrown senbon were even faster and that she was protecting herself and Naruto at the same time.

Haku had a look of awe on her face, seeing the girl so gracefully dance above of her comrade, blocking and deflecting most, but not all, of her thrown senbon. She had to admit that the girl was pretty brilliant. Hinata was her first opponent ever that could spot her senbon, not even to mention the fact that she had a working defensive against them. But this was no real problem to her. She had an infinitive supply to throw at the two young shinobi and she was certain that they would get tired first. Beside, some senbon already found their targets. It was only a matter of time.

Hinata was groaning, the senbon that made it past her defense sticking out of her body. It wasn't too painful and it wasn't reducing her mobility just yet, but she knew that she couldn't keep it up too long anymore. Not to mention that the blood loss would increase quickly, with all her quick movings. But the simple thought of what might happen once she stopped protecting Naruto and herself was enough to keep her going.

He was totally frustrated. There was nothing he could do to help Hinata out. But simply laying on the ground, letting his friend protecting him, was not sitting too well with Naruto. Looking up at the girl above him was he coming to a conclusion. "Your eyes focused?" he asked aloud, not even sure if Hinata had heard him, her tension visible on her face.

She did hear his question however, but had no idea why he asked her something like that in this situation. Though the question in fact was a bullseye, with her Byakugan focusing on every mirror, keeping track of the thrown senbons this way. Only managing a small nod in reply before deflecting the next set of senbons was enough for Naruto, who realized that small movement as what is was.

Both Haku and Hinata were slightly surprised when suddenly clones of Naruto popped into existence. They appeared around them, most of them gone in an instant, when a thrown senbon hit them. But some managed a small step towards the mirrors before being hit. It wasn't much, but it was enough to let Haku aim some of her senbon at the clones instead of the originals. If she let a close escape out of her mirror created dome could it become a problem to her.

Hinata was thankful for Naruto's idea, which gave her some split seconds to relax, as the amount of senbon she needed to deflect were reduced partially. Their overall situation hadn't change that much however and Hinata was painfully aware of that.

-with Hanabi and Tazuna-

A small smile. That was all Hanabi allowed herself the moment she saw that Naruto had an idea that was helping her sister. Still, she too saw the overall situation the same her sister did, judging it as not looking too good. Thinking about her possibilities and desperate to do something, did she start to make handsigns. Tazuna raised an eyebrow at that, but kept silent. It wasn't like a comment from him would have helped or changed anything at that point and he wasn't in the mood anymore to argue with the girl.

Once finished with her signs Hanabi released the energy of her jutsu. "Earth Style: Throwing Stones." she said quietly, her concentration on all kind of pebble laying around on the bridge. She even found a few pieces of broken stone, sharp splitters of the material used for the construction, and fired all of them at the backside of the ice crystal mirrors closest to her.

If she was honest to herself did she not expect any result from that. It simply was the only thing she could do on that distance and it was better, at least concerning her own feelings, than doing nothing.

Haku stopped for a single second in her attacks, figuring out where the sound of stones hitting on ice might come from, before shaking her head. It didn't matter to her that much. Her mirrors were undamaged and she could continue her attacks. Might have been just her imagination.

Hanabis face sported a pout when she realized that her "attack" had no effect. It wasn't surprising at all, but it left her frustrated. Though she knew that calling that move an "attack" was a joke in the first place. It was pure luck that it, combined with her sisters Water Needles, was able to knock out one of the Demon Brothers. She knew that much, but frustration is a frisky thing one can't control.

"Well, well, now look at that. The little girl is throwing with stones." a deep and low voice coming from the fog mocked her, startling both her and Tazuna the same. Where was it coming from all of a sudden?

Tazuna made a step closer to the young girl, not sure where the voice came from. But he did realize it. He heard it often enough after all, heck, everyone in his village knew the voice of Gato, the guy who supressed them. But where did it come from? And why was he here all of a sudden?

Her eyes moved around, her vision parting from Naruto and her sister, on the search for the source of the voice. She first checked the area towards the beginning of the bridge, thinking that it must have come from there, as it is the only way to them. But all she found there was the still ongoing fight between Kakashi and Zabuza - or so she thought as she still couldn't make out Zabuzas chakra signature with the chakra generated fog covering it up perfectly.

A gasp escaped her lips when she checked the other direction, finding a large group of bandits inside the fog towards the uncompleted end of the bridge, slowly approaching her position. "How?" she whispered to herself, also gaining the attention of Tazuna. "There's only the uncompleted end of the bridge up there. And there was nobody when we arrived. How is there a small army now?"

She placed herself in front of Tazuna, facing in the direction of the approaching danger. That was a most problematic situation right now, with her body temperature being way to low and her mobility reduced due to the wet and partially frozen clothes she wore. And being faced with that many opponents clearly turned the odds against her. But she had a mission to fulfill...

-with Kakashi-

His fight with Zabuza was not advancing at all with both of them not fighting for real. He might not mind it too much in any other situation, but Zabuza was right that his own genin were also fighting right now and each second lost could bring the kids into bigger problems. "You sure you don't just want to retreat?" he tried another time. "I'm not having any grudge against you. If you just leave will I let you go, like I did the other two."

He dodged under another swing of Zabuzas sword and backfliped out of reach, entering a defensive stance with his kunai in front of him. Zabuza eyed him for a moment before shaking his head. "And then what? Shall I simply leave? Or maybe take out Gato for you? And after that?" he spat out his words. "You know, I'm feared and all. I got a history. Nobody wants to deal with me. So why the hell are you still trying to talk to me?"

"So?" Kakashi shrugged. "I told you before, I too got a bounty, meaning I'm feared and with a history. But my live is decent and I'm not on the run." he put his kunai away and started to make handsigns. "But you are right, this is taking way too long, so... Fire Style: Fireball jutsu!" he finished his signs and launched a fireball at Zabuza.

The missing nin reacted quickly however, going through some handsigns himself. "Bad choice. Don't you know that Water beats Fire? Water Style: Water Dragon jutsu!" Zabuza finished, summoning a dragon made from the surrounding water to clash with Kakashis fireball.

The instant result was the visibility being reduced even more because of the additional steam created by the clash of the two jutsu. Both of them lost sight of the other for this moment...

-with Hinata and Naruto-

Hinata had a smirk on her lips. It was a small one, but it was there. The reason was simple: Haku hadn't landed a single hit for a little while now and said girl noticed this too. Her breath fast was she taking the moment of realization, during which Haku wasn't attacking either, to speak up. "You are out of senbon." she noted matter of factly. It was only a small thing right now, not really improving their situation, but she got at least some seconds to breath, to calm her body down.

Haku pondered the girl in the middle of her ice mirror dome. She could clearly see that some of her senbon had hit, but the amount wasn't nearly as high as she wanted. And it was true that she hadn't landed a single hit once her real senbon ran out. "How can you tell?" she asked curious, tilting her head to the side lightly. She had to admit that Hinata got her interest.

"Easy. Your latest senbon were created using your Ice Style. And these are full of your chakra. I can clearly see them, easy deflect them now." Hinata explained, a little bit proud of being able to withstand these attacks so far. She took some deep breaths, making the best of the time given to her.

"Your eyes are amazing, Hinata-chan!" Naruto cheered for his friend, a big smile on his face. Just to summon yet another shadow clone, trying to exploit the current ceasefire.

The clone actually managed two steps before it was dispelled by yet another senbon. "Nuh-uh, no funny things while tools are talking." Haku chided Naruto, a small frown on her face. An innocent look from Naruto was all she got as reply, something on which she in return replied with rolling her eyes, before focusing back on Hinata. "So, even if you can see them clearly now, I can see that you are nearly exhausted. Your loss will come eventual."

She just knew that this was all the break she would get, no matter how she would reply now. "I'm just curious if you are actually trying to kill us..." she answered quietly. "I may be injured and exhausted, but your senbon aren't really the deadliest of weapons."

This provoked a single senbon to be thrown at her, one she deflected easily. But with her Byakugan was she able to see the route it would have taken and swallowed. Haku simply grinned in reply. "It's just a matter of where I aim, don't you think?"

And with that did the attacks continue, the battle as good as over...

-with Hanabi and Tazuna-

She cursed her bad luck. The only positive thing was that these new bandits underestimated her. They didn't knew what happened to their vanguard and they didn't knew that Hanabi was a shinobi from Konoha. All they saw was a little girl putting herself between the bridge builder and themselfs. Because of that was she able to fell the first three bandits easily.

But that was as far as her luck lasted. With her movements restricted and her body temperature in a real low area was she easily overwhelmed by the sheer amount of bandits. She was struggling and fighting back of course, but she couldn't change the fact that in the end she was quickly subdued, her hands tied together behind her back, her legs tied to each other.

Following that did they also overwhelm Tazuna, pushing him to his knees and also tying his hands together. He thought about running away for a short moment, but he didn't really saw the point in that. If he would run into the fog alone might he be as dead as he would be now. After all were both the Demon and his slave still out there, occupied with their fights maybe, but he would be an easy target for them. Plus, even if he would never admit that to anybody, he just couldn't abadon Hanabi, the girl that risked her life to protect him, the girl that somehow reminded him at his nephew Inari.

"Well, that was way easier than I thought..." Gato said with slight annoyance while stepping forward to look at the now subdued bridge builder and the girl that was protecting him. "To think that you gave me that much trouble... and then did we manage to overwhelm you that easily..." he shook his head. "I really don't get how you managed to annoy me for that long. But that's over now. Any last words?"

He thought about his next words carefully, but in the end simply shrugged. If he had to die could he at least try to find out how big of an asshole Gato actually is. Turning his head slightly did he nod towards the fog, towards the beginning of the bridge. "Don't you care about your men?"

Letting out a loud laugh was Gato waving that question away. "Disposeable scum. Judging by the sounds are they currently getting rid of the Demon for me. Two annoyances less within one day, what else could I ask for?" he grinned at Tazuna before his eyes fell on Hanabi. "It was nice from you to bring me a present though. Where did you find that girl? I'm sure she'll catch a good price. Or maybe I'll keep her to myself." there was a lecherous look in his eyes.

Hanabi noticed that look and it sent her into yet another rage filled outburst. "What the hell is wrong with all of you? I'm so sick of every men I encounter wanting to enslave me!" she increased her struggles, but it was futile. The few moments she was tied up and on the ground were enough to drop her body temperature low enough to stop the body from following the orders given out by her brain. "I'm so going to make your lives hell if you lay just one finger on me!"

The grin on Gatos face widened even more. "A feisty one, huh? It will be so much fun to break her in. Anyway..." his eyes turned back on Tazuna. "What to do with you now? Should I get rid of you right away, or maybe imprison you to let you suffer for a long time? But with you gone am I the unchallenged ruler of this area now! There will be nobody left to give me any trouble."

Being sure that he had won, and with so little effort by himself - the thugs being killed by the Demon were exchangeable to him anyway - was he about to signal his men to pick the prisoners up and leave. He didn't care who might still be on the bridge fighting. He achieved his goal and only had to leave the same way he appeared, with the boats tied to the pillars at the end of the construction site. It was all so simple. Or so he thought.

It was that moment that yet another person reached the bridge, coming from the landside. The sounds of fighting he heard and the fog he saw was all he needed to know that both the Konoha shinobi he learned about and the Demon of the Mist were currently on the bridge. And whether or not Gato was there would he soon find out too. A smirk crossed his lips and he quickly went through a set of handsigns, bringing them down to the bridge once he finished. "Earth Style: Earthern Spikes!" he shouted out loud, alarming anyone who might be in hearing range.

Being the closest to the beginning of the bridge were Kakashi and Zabuza, both clearly hearing the voice and sensing the incoming danger. It was only a delay of a single second before the spikes, covering the whole width of the bridge, reached the two combatants with alarming speed. Kakashi jumped up in the air, avoiding the spikes easily and landed standing on top of a single one, his eyes scanning for the source of the attack. Zabuza on the other side decided against dodging and shattered the spikes aiming for him with his sword, an annoyed expression on his face.

The force and speed of the spikes were enough to also blow away the steam created by their attacks and most of the fog, giving both of them a clear view at the beginning on the bridge and the new arrival. And both of them remembered that kind of full body ninja suit quite well...

The voice was also loud enough to echo further down the bridge, reaching Hinata, Naruto and Haku. None of them paid the voice too much attention though and they also ignored the rumbling of the incoming attack. All together had they a few seconds longer than Kakashi and Zabuza and it was Hinata with her Byakugan who noticed the spikes first. "Damned, DODGE!" she shouted out loud, getting the attention of both her friend and opponent - but in the same moment also lost focus long enough to get hit by yet another senbon.

Naruto jumped up from the ground, orienting himself for a moment. It was then that he noticed the incoming spikes and quickly grabbed Hinata to jump away from the attack. Hinata let out a painful groan in return as several of the senbon still sticking out of her body were pushed around and moved due to the sudden contact and movement from Naruto. It was better than being pierced by the spikes, but the pain paired with her exhaustion nearly robbed her of all her strength. Naruto too let out a painful grunt when he wasn't quick enough, a spike piercing his lower leg. It was pure luck that neither of them hit another spike when they fell back down to the bridge as a result of that.

Haku had a similiar problem. Currently using her mirror jutsu was she able to change between the different mirrors in nearly an instant, but to get away to another place would she need to get out of the mirrors. The time needed for that was something she didn't have and she let out a loud and painful yelp when the spikes easily shattered her jutsu, throwing her out of it by sheer force. Unable to avoid the initial impact was she at least quick enough to freeze the area she was falling towards, to stop spikes from forming there, avoiding worse injuries.

Once the fog at this location was gone by the force of it was the only thing one saw the remainings of some ice mirrors currently dissipating into fine ice crystals. Neither of the combatants could be seen, as all three of them lay between the spikes.

The attack lost some of it's force slowly and wasn't covering the whole width of the bridge anymore when it reached the point at which Gato and his men were located. But none of them were shinobi and the reduced amount of spikes that reached them, plus the fact that it was a large group of thugs, was enough to throw them into chaos the moment a good third of them, including one of the thugs standing right next to the prisoners, were pierced by the spikes.

It was a nasty image and Hanabi couldn't help but finally being hit by the events of the day. She killed at least a good dozen of bandits and thugs herself and now witnessed this... rather messy massacre of way more. It was too much for her to handle. And since her control of her own body was nearly non-existent at this point anyway was she unable to suppress the next thing happening: she threw up.

That was something Gato, if he had actually seen it, would have laughed about. But he was too focused on the sudden chaos with a third of his men death in an instant and another third fleeing in panic, getting back to the boats to just get away from that cursed place.  
This wasn't going as he had planned it and it was a real bother to him.

With the fog being blown away by the attack was everyone now able to oversee all parts of the bridge and the reactions were quite different from person to person.

-J from the Organization-

Thanks to his face being covered by his full body suit did none see the grin on it. If they could, would they most likely shiver in fear as the grin was one of a madman who just hit the jackpot. He couldn't believe his luck that the Konoha shinobi present was none else than the Copycat he faced those years ago. In addition to that was Zabuza present too, which by extention meant that his slave must be close as well. That made two bounties and one useful merchandise.  
And farthest away from him, but basicly sitting inside a trap, was the man he came here for: Gato.

They wouldn't allow him to continue doing his business here. It was one thing that he was active on the black market. They might be able to tolerate that. But they couldn't tolerate competition in the slave trading business and for that was Gato and his group to be eliminated. How he was going to enjoy what was about to happen here.

-Kakashi and Zabuza-

He took a short moment to look around before focusing back on the newly arrived threat. That he wasn't able to see any of his genin nor Tazuna worried Kakashi, but there was not much he could do about that right now. The man leading the group of thugs, most likely Gato, being at the location at which Hanabi and Tazuna should be wasn't helping to ease his worries. But with Zabuza still in close range and now with J as additional opponent - he just couldn't check on his team if he wanted to stay alive himself. A real bothersome situation.

Zabuza made the same observations as Kakashi, but he wasn't concerned about Haku's whereabouts. If at all was he worried about his second encounter with one of the Organization within a short period of time. Especially since J was the guy that tried to capture his tool and sell her back when he worked for them. He wasn't trusting that guy at all. With C he could at least talk and argue and he never tried to trick him and forcefully take Haku away, but J was another topic. It was no surprise that his mood wasn't the best now.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked with a cold tune, his eyes narrowing into slits as he watched the newcomer warily.

"Oh, you see..." there was a shrug in reply. "This and that. In fact am I here for Gato." he pointed towards the end of the bridge, before adding in his thoughts 'But after I'm done with him do I have time for you two.'

Watching from Zabuza to J and back to Zabuza was Kakashi pondering about his options before he spoke quietly, that only Zabuza could hear him. "I'll say it again, none of us has to die here today. I'm sure we can come to an agreement that we both benefit from."

Not reacting to that proposal was he adressing J again. "He said that you guys aren't here for me or my tool, but I swear that I'll cut you down if you get close to one of us."

"He?" the unseeable grin on his face was getting even bigger. "Good to know that C is around too, makes things way easier for me!" and with that spoken was he doing a quick set of handsigns. After they were finished was he gone, only one of his earth spikes in his place.

"This isn't going to end well. Listen, none of us is save from him. I'll trust that you'll make a good decision.". Kakashi wasn't even looking at Zabuza while he spoke, turning around to make a headstart towards the back of the bridge. He had a good idea that J just substituted himself with his own jutsu to quickly finish off Gato. And Hanabi with Tazuna should still be somewhere at that location too...

-Gato, Hanabi and Tazuna-

Unable to comprehend what just happened, Gato could only stare at the now completely destroyed surface of the bridge. There was no sign of his vanguard anywhere and he just lost a good amount of thugs to... whatever just happened there. And with the fog gone was his confusion increasing even more now. He could see Zabuza standing inside this sea of spikes and next to him... an unknown shinobi. And they were talking to yet another unknown figure standing at the beginning of the bridge. He wasn't able to make out details on this distance, but it was still enough for realization to dawn upon him.

Grabbing the bound and by now pretty much unresponsive girl on the ground was he turning her around and paling slightly. They must have overseen it when they arrived. Not to mention the fog that was reducing sight even more. But it made all sense now. The fact that this girl managed to take out a few of his men despite the condition of her clothes. The Konoha headband, worn as a kind of belt, was clearly visible to him now.

"Don't say you hired Konoha shinobi to protect you?" he spat out angry, his eyes fixed on Tazuna now. "You piece of crap... I'll make you suffer for that. Do you have any idea how much it will cost to hire new personal?"

Tazuna looked back at Gato and started to laugh quietly. "Honestly? I wouldn't be worried about the Konoha shinobi. From what I learned from them... are they the lesser threat for you."

Confusion was written over his face, this information not making any sense to him. His eyes darted from Tazuna back to the girl before over to his remaining men. At least half of them was still there he guessed. More than enough to fight for him, even against shinobi.

It was then that a new voice interrupted his thoughts, claiming the attention of everyone present. "You must be Gato? I've heard some stories... and I don't like them at all."

Between the spikes stood the masked shinobi he had seen at the beginning of the bridge. Trying to confirm this, his eyes scanning the area around Zabuza again just to realize that indeed one person was missing, he gulped. He too heard stories. About an underground organization that could be considered the mightiest among the criminals. Not much was known, just that their operatives were usually dressed with full body suits. Just like the guy standing in front of him right now...

"So what? You think that you can simply invade my territory and get away with it? I don't know who you are and I don't care. Men, kill him!" he ordered his remaining thugs.

Without missing a beat came the reply from the strange figure. "By order of 'Her' is your little business hereby closed now." that was enough to start whispering between some of the thugs. Some had heard rumours about 'Her' and they quickly told the others. "Everyone that is willing to cooperate..." his eyes mustered the thugs for a moment "...will earn a slight reward. Everyone who will oppose us will die."

It was then that he took notice of Hanabi and Tazuna, the first he still recognized as the merchandise they lost by C's failure, the second he could easily guess was the bridge builder. "And whoever supplies us with additional merchandise might even qualify for a small bonus." he ended his speech, not even caring to wait for an answer.

"Who do you think you are?" Gato was fuming now. "Coming here, threatening me, trying to bribe my men? You are the one that will be taken care of here and now!"

Taking of the piece covering his head was his grin sending shivers down the spine of most thugs. "Name's J, right hand of 'Her', leader of the Organization. And we don't tolerate competition. Now die." he spoke calmly knowing that he could in his position.

What Gato failed to realize was the fact, that this person made a big impression on his men. He didn't hear that some were killed by the others. And he clearly didn't see that most of his remaining men turned against him. The one thing he did realize, in fact the last thing he would ever realize, were the sword and spear that pierced him, ending his life right there...

-Hinata, Naruto and Haku-

"Are you okay, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked, lifting himself off Hinatas body, ignoring the pain in his leg for now. He was totally worried about her, hoping he that the spikes hadn't injured her even more.

She let out a long groan, before slowly shaking her head. "I don't think... I can keep on fighting... Naruto-kun." she spoke under heavy breaths. "What... happened?"

All he could see around them were lots of earthern spikes. He shook his head. "I'm not sure. Someone attacked, but I don't know who."

"What about Hanabi-sama?" she asked worried. "And Spooky? Tazuna?"

He shruged somewhat helpless. "I really don't know. But we need to get going, before Haku or whoever is responsible for this is showing up here."

Nodding her head slightly Hinata tried to get off the ground, but let out yet another groan. All the pain, paired with the senbon still stuck in her body and the blood she lost, kept her on the ground. "I... don't think I can, Naruto-kun." she said quietly, avoiding to look at him. She just couldn't help but feeling useless right now.

"Annoying, isn't it?" the voice of Haku could be heard by them, slowly coming closer. "To be interrupted like that. But I can hear you. I'm still able to finish it, to satisfy my master."

Both of them looked in the direction the voice was coming from, not daring to speak another word or move, hoping that Haku wouldn't find them right now, covered by the spikes surrounding them.

But it was no use. Just moments later could they see Haku appearing between the spikes. Her form slightly bent over, one hand holding her flank which sported a nasty cut where the spike hit her when she was forced out of her jutsu. But it wouldn't be enough to stop her from fulfilling her mission. "You fought real good, I'll admit that much. It's a shame I've to kill you two now." a sad smile entered her face.

Naruto moved to position himself between Haku and Hinata, to cover her from any more damage. The grip around his staff firm, determination visible within his eyes. He wouldn't let his friend suffer any more, he wouldn't let Hinata down. Then would he look after Tazuna and Hanabi and finish the mission. He would protect them all.

She created another set of ice senbon in her free hand, but was stopped by a firm voice. "Haku, that's enough."

Her head perked up upon hearing the voice. "As you wish, Zabuza-sama. But why?" she looked in the direction she could sense her master.

There was a small gathering of fog from which Zabuza appeared, looking at the two Konoha genin before his eyes shifted over to his tool. "Because the time has come." he explained vaguely. "That, and 'they' are here. This is no longer of any concern to me."

Understanding what her master was telling her did she nod. "Are we leaving?"

He kept silent for a while, pondering this question. He looked at Hinata and Naruto, the latter still shielding his injured teammate. He then looked towards the end of the bridge, watching how Gato was killed by his own men. He had a good guess what happened there, that J took over control of the thugs. Yes, they could simply leave. But he wasn't trusting J at all, the same as with Gato. And considering the events from the past, that J tried to get his hands on Haku, to sell that 'rare merchandise' as he called her...

"No..." he answered quietly. "I've made an... agreement with Kakashi."

"What?" Naruto asked surprised. "Spooky did what?"

"Spooky?" Zabuza raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, you kids are... strange. Whatever..." he took a long breath and shook his head. "Just keep your heads down here. Haku, let's go."

With that did he disappear in a blur of fog again, leaving the three kids behind. Dispersing the ice senbon Haku smiled at her former opponents. "I'm glad for you two." she said before, while biting on her lower lip in slight pain, lifting herself back up to follow her master. If he ordered her to fight the Organization would she gladly follow. They treated her badly when they worked for them and there were some scores to settle after all.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata spoke up quietly. "Do you have any idea what just happened?"

"Not a clue, Hinata-chan. Not a clue..." he shook his head. However, thankful for this opportunity did he turn around to face Hinata again and carefully started to pull the senbon out from her body. Taking out some bandages from a pocket was he going down to work on her wounds. It wasn't much, but it should be better than letting the senbon stick in her body.

-further down the bridge-

The scene to which Kakashi arrived wasn't sitting well with him. It wasn't the thugs that were pierced by the spikes that bothered him. If anything did this make his job somewhat easier. He also noticed the dead body of whom he assumed was Gato, something that was fine with him. But J ordering the remaining thugs around with a grin... no, that wasn't sitting well with him.

Being completely honest, he expected it. They did get a warning from C after all, that the Organization would most likely bribe or threaten the thugs to switch sides. But that they were just about to lift up Hanabi and Tazuna, to haul them away towards the back of the bridge, that was another story again.

"Funny, isn't it?" J spoke up, grinning at Kakashi. "How we run into each other again, with you leading a team containing one of the merchandise you took away from us. That I can now claim your and the demons bounty in the end, also finally being able to get my hands on his slave too... Luck really does like me."

"You are an Earth Style user, that much is clear. It will be no problem for me to take you out and clear this situation. And you won't be taking any prisoners here today." he said with a calm voice, slowly shifting his body to make a move to rescue Hanabi and Tazuna.

There wasn't even any time for him to react however, when the bridge suddenly shifted and a wall made from the used stones suddenly blocked his route. "Oh, really now, infamous Copycat of Konoha? Cause from my point of view are you at a clear disadvantage here this time."

"You see... that's why I brought some allies with me, unlike you." the smile could be heard within his voice.

He let out a loud laugh. "What? You think that C is able to help you? Yeah, I know about it. It was easy to piece it together, that he betrayed us and is now working for you. But all he's good as is spying and deceiving others. He's no fighter and no match for me at all." J explained to Kakashi, hoping to buy some time this way to get the girl and old man away from here. That Hyuga kid alone would fetch a good price, that much he knew.

"Oh, you see..." Kakashi now openly smiles at J, as much as it was tellable below his mask. "...I recently made new friends."

A scream interrupted his thoughts and he turned around, just to see a figure between the thugs who cut down the ones carrying the prisoners. "What the...? The Demon?" he let out in surprise, just to dodge a set of ice senbon.

"Have you forgotten about me already, 'employer-san'?" Haku asked in a sweet voice, suddenly standing next to Kakashi. "I haven't forgotten about you. And my master decided that I'm allowed to pay you back for what you did."

"What about...?" Kakashi asked quietly, that only Haku could here him.

"They did good..." Haku answered as quiet and smiled at him before adding a single word. "...Spooky." her smile shifted into a grin.

"Well... shit." J grumbled to himself. He could take on the Copycat and the Demon together, that much he was sure about. But it would take time, time he didn't really have right now as his newly aquired pawns were already decimated by the Demon. Not with the information he learned about C. Information 'She' would love to know. And he did take care of Gato's business already.

He suddenly dissolved into dust when Kakashi appeared out of nowhere, a Chidori passing the spot his heart was just a moment ago. Only to block a set of ice senbon with his arm, that aimed at the spot he was appearing again, the senbon falling down to the ground without doing any harm after hitting his hardened limb.

Looking back towards the thugs that were still being decimated by Zabuza did he made a decision. It only took him a split second to go through a complicated set of hand signs before shouting out "Earth Style: Fissure!"

The ground rumbled and split apart down within the water. The gap was big enough to swallow one of the pillars supporting the bridge, the one supporting the parts the fighting parties were on.

The events following happened all quickly.

Zabuza, sensing the danger, let off from the thugs he was fighting and moved to pick up the bridge builder and the kid, before disappearing in another blur of fog. A big part of the end of the construction broke and fell down into the water, taking several thugs with it. Only the ones that were close to the last pillar of the bridge, at which their boats were located, got lucky.

Kakashi and Haku, being right in the middle of the jutsu, quickly jumped away, back towards the beginning of the bridge. He was sure that Hinata and Naruto should be safe from that jutsu, having fought atop another pillar. But the thought that the Organization wasn't caring about potential colletaral damage was bothering him.

And J took the distraction he created to disappear from the bridge. It was only a minor drawback that he hadn't got his hands on any bounty. His main goal, to get rid of Gato, was fulfilled. That and he had two captives he could bring back. He just wasn't sure of the value the mother and her son would have. Of highest value however clearly was the information that C was still alive and now working with Konoha. That one he really needed to bring back to 'Her' and he would.

Once the dust settled stood the group of makeshift allies back on the shore, in front of the remainings of the bridge in construction, looking at the results.

"Say, do you always hold yourself back during a fight?" Zabuza started the conversation, his eyes resting on Kakashi.

"Only if I believe that talking is a better option." came the reply, accompanied by a shrug.

Looking over to the two from the place where he sat next to Hinata on the ground Naruto eyed the two in thought, before he spoke up. "Well... I believe you are simply lazy, Spooky." he concluded after a short time of thinking, Hinata giving a small nod in agreement.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Kakashi asked with a hurt expression.

Without missing a beat did Hinata start. "You spared C back then."

"But that was after the fi-..."

He was interrupted by Naruto. "You let the mercenaries go, without having fought for real."

"But they were doub-..."

Haku giggled and couldn't help but to add to that exchange. "You avoided fighting Zabuza-sama and assaulted him with words until he gave in."

Letting his shoulders hang in defeat he shrugged again. "Okay, fine, maybe I am lazy. Happy now?" and with that was he ending that argument, ignoring his genin for the moment.

"Seems like you gotta need to start all over, huh?" Zabuza noted dryly in the direction of Tazuna. And right he was, with the bridge partially destroyed and the still standing parts covered with the Earth Spikes, making them useless as well. "I mean, I doubt that Gato would have went with such methods."

Having shaken away the words from the kids was Kakashi now back to his professional self. "But primary because he lacked the possibilities I believe. Besides, ambushing and killing the workers is just as awful a method as the complete destruction of the bridge."

"True." it was a simple admission from Zabuza and he shrugged. He had his disagreements with Gato after all and didn't take part in the slaughtering. His eyes shifted over to where Haku was currently treating the wounds of Hinata with some herbal medicine. "So, how bad did you mess them up?"

"Not bad enough it seems, Zabuza-sama." Haku replied thruthfully. "I wasn't able to win within a proper time..." she tilted her head to the side and a smile entered her lips. "...though I'm kinda happy about that now. With the new orders you gave me do we now not need to explain two dead genin to Konoha, right?"

"There was nothing I could do..." Naruto grumbled quietly. "I was no help at all to Hinata-chan. Hey, Spooky, can you teach me some tricks for ranged fighting?"

Hinata smiled at her teammate, despite the pain she felt within her whole body. "Don't worry, Naruto-kun. You did help me with your Shadow Clones. But..." her sight shifted onto Hanabi who lay on the ground with two blankets covering her cooled down body. "I'm worried about Hanabi-sama. We need to get her out of the clothes and warm her up, or she'll die..."

"We should go to my place." Tazuna offered up, turning away from the bridge. "No point in discussing everything out here, right? And there we can warm Hanabi up too."

In silent agreement the group started to move away. Kakashi picked up Hanabi, Naruto and Haku supported Hinata. There was a lot to talk about, that much was clear to them all. Too much happened this day...

XXXXX

 _ **AN:**_ Ayup, yet again a cliffhangar. For the next chapter I thought about multiple scenes, split over the different characters and the days/weeks to come after the fight. Kinda giving everyone a bit of time, filling the plot with the after results of the fight. Stay tuned (for whenever I get to write it).


	33. Chapter 32 - Wrapping up Wave

_**Authors Note:**_ Well, heya *waves* Work's just eating me up. Took me way longer to even start on this chapter... It's rather short, but I never really got around to writing much lately. Can't be helped I guess.

Oh, and the chapter title might already spoil it, but it's mainly wrapping up several loose ends in this chapter to make Wave complete. Have fun.

The chapter after, whenever I may get to start writing on it, they will be back in Konoha. Got a few things and ideas planed, some random stuff to sort out, some character development (anyone remember the girls mental spaces?), and much more.

XXXXX

 **A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 32: What happened afterwards -or- what they usually don't show in a series, cause it's too boring/long**

"Okay, so what now?" Naruto threw the question into the room, his eyes shifting from one occupant to the next.

The group headed back to Tazuna's place after the fight at the bridge was over. Sitting around the table in the living room were a part of them, namely Tazuna, Kakashi, Naruto and Zabuza. The bridgebuilder wasn't too happy to have the rogue nin in his home, but he couldn't deny the fact that Zabuza helped his cause in the end. And with Gato dead was it unlikely that he got attacked by him right now, especially with Kakashi sitting at the same table. Or so he hoped at least.

Zabuza just sat there anyway, his eyes closed, his arms crossed over his chest. His thoughts were at the exact same question that Naruto voiced just now. The only difference was that he was thinking about himself and Haku, not about the things the boy would have on his mind, like the mission the Konoha shinobi had. He had no answer to this question just yet. On the positive side for him stood the point of not having to work for Gato anymore. Something he clearly found no fault at. On the negative side stood the point, that he had no backup plan and going back to roaming the land wasn't that tempting on his list.

It was Kakashi who broke the silence, but not answering Naruto's question at all. "Are you sure you don't want to go upstairs and join the girls for some treatment?" He was honestly concerned about his genin. Not only was he injured by Haku's senbon, but also suffered a major injury at his leg from the Earth Spikes when he tried to bring Hinata out of the danger.

A pout entered his face. "I told you I'm fine. That will heal in no time, you'll see." he crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes challenging Kakashi. "And don't think I wouldn't notice that you avoided my question. So, what now, Spooky?"

"But it would be a good excuse to get some nice looks at your teammates." Zabuza said with a smirk, his eyes still closed. "Judging by the wounds they suffered Haku will at least strip the older one to bandage her up. Haku won't throw you out and your teammates are in no condition to do it themselfs."

Looking back at Zabuza with an open mouth Naruto wasn't able to form a response at first, before blushing red and shifting his look at a wall. "Pervert." he mumbled before getting louder again. "I wouldn't take advantage of their situations like that!"

"Your loss." Zabuza simply shrugged, never having opened his eyes during that exchange.

"I believe Naruto simply don't want to pull their wrath on himself. They are his teammates after all and he will see them quite often in the future." Kakashi said neutrally with Naruto nodding in agreement. "Though I have to agree with Zabuza, it is a good opportunity for you."

"WHAT!?" Naruto shouted, before his brain send him into a loop. He knew that Kakashi was some kind of a pervert. It wasn't too hard to figure out, considering the books he always read in open sight. But that he would agree on Zabuzas proposal he just couldn't grasp.

Eyeing Naruto for a moment Tazuna shook his head. "Okay, I get that you don't want him around for whatever is to be discussed right now, but..." he shook his head again. "Wasn't that a bit too much?"

"We are shinobi." was the simple answer that Kakashi gave him. "Think about what happened today."

"Hmm, enjoy your live while you can?" he shook his head again. "Well, true, the outcome was... rather lucky and unexpected. But his question does concern me too. What happens next?"

Finally opening one eye Zabuza looked over at the bridgebuilder. "Why are you of all people worried about that one? The answer for you is simple. You'll build your bridge. Gato is dead. Most of his hired men are dead. There is nobody left to stop you from doing it." he let out a long sigh. "I'm the one with problems here. I've got nowhere to go now, no place to be. And the villagers aren't exactly friendly towards my presence."

"Well, you did help us today..." Tazuna started, but was quickly interrupted by Zabuza.

"...which for one nobody has seen and two you are as wary of me as everybody else. You aren't even comfortable with me being inside your home right now." Zabuza finished for Tazuna, closing his eye again. "They don't call me 'Demon' for nothing, you know?"

Kakashi raised a hand to interrupt whatever answer was about to come from the bridgebuilder. "You see, I do have an idea about that..."

The girls room, upstairs

"Will you stop squirming around? I'm trying to patch you up here." Haku scolded Hinata who flinched and rolled around under every touch of the older teen.

Hinata blushed slightly, not being able to look at Haku. "...sorry." she said quietly. While she could ignore the pain somewhat during the fight, thanks to the adrenaline in her body, she now felt every spot a senbon struck her with doubled intensity. "I can't help it, okay? And... it's embarassing..."

Hearing that Haku did a half step backwards to take a good look at the girl who was sitting only in her underwear and collar in front of her. That intensified Hinatas blush some more and she tried to cover her chest with her hands. "I don't see your problem. You look good for your age." the teen said smiling. "Besides, as a slave should you be used in being undressed."

That irritated Hinata, making her look back at the older teen in confusion. "What do you mean by that? What has that to do with... that?"

"Huh, well, lucky you." Haku replied, a bit of surprise hearable in her voice. "That's the main reason why most people take on female slaves." she shrugged. "Anyway, stop squirming or I can't apply the bandages. Don't want your body to not heal properly, do we?"

Right now Hinata wasn't really able to make the connection Haku pointed at. Being in thought about that she let her apply the bandages, the thoughts distracting her from the pain for a moment.

That was til Hanabi spoke up. Her body nearly completely hidden below two blankets, her voice quiet and shivering, her body still freezing from the events not too long ago. But she was fully aware of her surroundings and of course listened to the conversation between her sister and Haku. "...I never ordered her too..."

Not stopping with the bandages did a small smile enter Hakus lips. "Well, that's a bit of a surprise, but it does explain a few things. I was wondering about your mistress, cause there was nobody suitable for being her in your group. Or so I thought." she spoke casually, like it would be the most normal topic ever. "Aren't you a bit young to take on a slave?"

The blankets moved a bit, but beside of that was it hard to tell that Hanabi had moved at all. "...her choice..."

"I... see." Haku nodded slightly and motioned for Hinata to lay down on her stomach, that she could work on the backside. "Any particular reason you wanted to become a slave? Usually it's... well... like back then. Kids, girls, being kidnapped and forced into it."

Hinata let out a long sigh. "I didn't knew enough about it when I made a bet with her. But I don't regret it now. I'm happy with Hanabi-sama." she said quietly, trying to avoid going into too much detail. "And... we overcame the past. Well, mostly at least... A lot happened, you know? Don't worry, we aren't mad for your involvement."

"So you do remember?" Haku asked, an apolegetic smile on her face, though none of the girls saw it. "I was surprised when I saw all of you again. But it's good to know that the Organization wasn't able to do something to you." she paused a moment before adding a bit more. "I mean, you were at the bridge too. We don't like them too much either."

She finished applying the bandages to Hinatas body and a playful smirk crossed her lips. Her hand rose up and quickly came down again, giving a slap on Hinatas ass cheek. A loud and surprised 'eeep!' escaped the girls lips. The sound also surprised Hanabi and she actually showed her head between the blankets, curious at what was going on. "There, all done." Haku chimed happily, smiling at the two sisters. "So, the orders from Zabuza-sama were clear. We are having a lot of time for ourselfs til someone comes to get us. What are we going to do now?"

Outside the village, near a cave

To say he was surprised couldn't be more wrong. He knew "Her" and she knew him, so it was to be expected that she would send someone after him. But he was amazed how easily they found the cave he used before entering the village. And what they created out of the entrance of it. If he wouldn't know that there indeed was a cave, he would have missed it completely.

Approaching what could be called a merchants camp he made no attempt to hide his pressence. The pair occupying the camp, one male and one female, on the other hand weren't giving him any attention in return. Their cart was parked in front of the cave entrance, some blankets and other stuff covering whatever might have been visible of it beneath the cart.

The female was currently stirring around in a kettle with stew inside that hang above a makeshift fireplace, the male carrying a tray containing four empty bowls towards her. It seemed the food was nearly finished.

Taking a seat on one of the crates standing around J watched the pair for a short while, before the male came over, giving him a filled bowl with stew. "So you are the collectors she send after me this time? I've got to say, you seem to work quick and efficent." J spoke up, removing his hood to start eating.

The male grinned and looked back over to the female. "See? I told you he wouldn't remember. You owe me one!"

"Not my fault for thinking he would at least try to remember our faces, right? I mean, we are always cleaning up after him..." she answered with a pout, but nodded anyway to show that she agreed on the terms, that she owed him one.

"Even so it would mean we failed in our job. You know as good as I that our talent to not stand out, to disappear from memory, is what brought us into this worthy position." he still grinned.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." she replied with an exaggerated sigh. "Now hurry up and finish with the details. I don't like to be in one place for too long..."

He simply finished his stew while the pair talked to each other. It was a welcomed thing that the collectors always had something to eat ready whenever he came back. The one or other time he actually wondered about that, but never gave it a second thought. It must be a random coincidence. Every single time. For as long as J was second in command below "Her". Pure chance.

"Righty. Let's not waste time here. J-sama, we already found the merchandise you kept inside the cave. Where else do we need to pick up?" the male asked J, a serious expression on his face.

"That's all this time." J shrugged his shoulders, not really caring a bit in the world. "Stuff happened and I lost some additional merchandise. But that's fine. Got some worthy informations for 'Her', so we are good to leave as soon as possible."

The male looked at his boss for a moment before shrugging himself. "Well, that's not like you, but fine by us."

He gave a quiet whistle and a boy of maybe 14 years appeared from inside the cave, walking into the camp to pick up his bowl of food. "The merchandise is secured, dad. Where else?" he asked after walking over to the others.

"Easy job today. We are packing right after lunch." came the short reply from the male, getting him a nod as answer.

It was only half an hour later that the group was heading out, all traces of them erased from the surrounding area. For anyone watching was it a simple merchant group consiting of three adults and one kid. Safely secured within the cargo however, away from prying eyes, was the bridge builders family that was unlucky enough to cross the path of the Organization, on their way to an unknown future...

Evening, the same day

"How's Hanabi doing?" Kakashi asked the unusually absent minded Hinata who sat at the table, having barely touched her meal.

"A few days of recovering and rest and Hanabi-sama should be back on top." came the answer more automatic than really aware by the girl.

That of course didn't go unnoticed by Kakashi. "Okay Hinata, look at me." he waited for the girl to give him the attention he asked for. "And now tell me why you are acting so... strange for yourself. I get your relationship to your sister, but since when do you talk that formal about Hanabi?"

She shook her head. "Sorry, Spooky. I didn't meant to. I mean, I do respect her and all..." she trailed off, biting her lower lip and shaking her head again. "It's just... Haku used her time to... inform us about so many things related to us 'tools', as she called us."

Not sure how to react to that information, how to reply, as his knowledge about slavery narrowed down to the absolute basic things - Konoha wasn't involved with slavery for quite some time now - did he the first thing that come to his mind. "Well, I'm glad you three get along so well." he told her with an honest smile, only to receive a disbeliefing stare from Hinata in return.

The next morning

The group of workers warily eyed the Demon sitting a bit aside from the construction site. The Konoha shinobi nearby didn't help much to sooth their minds, so one of them spoke to Tazuna what all of them thought. "I get that you want us to continue..." his eyes shifted over to the strongly destroyed bridge "...or better start over with the bridge construction. And we are willing to work, despite our killed friends yesterday. But... what the hell is that Demon doing here? There's no way we are risking our lives again!"

His statement was supported by the other workers and Tazuna tried his best to calm them all down. "I can understand you. A lot happened yesterday and I too might be dead now. But, as a fact, Gato is dead. Most of his men are dead. And we can now continue our work on the bridge without having to worry about them sabotaging us even more."

"That doesn't explain why the Demon is here." another worker stated, crossing his arms over his chest. "Who says that he won't turn at us?"

"I do." Kakashi answered the question. "Because, with Gato gone, was he looking for a new contractor and Konoha hired him to help in the defense of the construction site. You can do your job without having to worry and we shinobi will do our job. Now, if you'll excuse me."

"You heard him. Now, let us get back to work. We need to judge the damage and most likely start from scratch, but this time we'll finish our bridge and bring prosperity back to our village. Who's with me?" Tazuna cheered his men on, getting positive replies from the workers.

A bit away Zabuza watched the scene, but stayed on distance. When Kakashi arrived him he spoke up. "You sure about that? I mean, I don't mind being able to stay in this village a bit longer. The best I could ask for is if they would ignore me. But..."

Kakashi gave him one of his smiles. "You worry to much. I'm sure they'll believe that Konoha hired your service. And that will give us plenty of time to actually talk about how to continue, right?"

"I'm not going to join Konoha." Zabuza replied firmly, crossing his arms. The smile Kakashi gave him eating at his patience. They called him a demon, but if he was one, would that make Kakashi a silver tongued devil...

Up on the ruin of the bridge, it was hard to call it any other way, was Naruto watching Haku crawling around between the remains of the Earth Spikes. It was more or less the area they fought the day before he figured. "What are you searching for, Haku-chan?" he asked in a mixture of cheerfulness and curiosity.

Hearing that she shot up from the ground, glaring at him. "Don't call me that! I'm a boy, remember?" the grin on Narutos face unnerved her. "Okay, look, it's worse enough that you and the girls know, okay? But please, don't shout it out to the public..."

He rose his hands in defense. "Alright, no need to get the ice senbon out again. Had enough of them yesterday..." his smile somehow managed to disarm the situation. "So, what are you looking for?"

Getting back to the ground Haku let out a sigh and Naruto was sure he saw a blush for a short moment before she vanished from his sight. "My collar..." she answered somewhat subdued. "I'm sure these spikes ripped it off, so it must be somewhere around here. And you could help me search, you know?"

"Uhm, okay... but I don't think I would be of much help." he answered but started to search anyway. "But why do you search for it? I mean, it's just a collar, right? You could replace it. Or simply stop wearing it."

"I knew you wouldn't get it..." she grumbled quietly. "I would have asked Hinata, weren't she ordered to stay behind and heal up. She would have understood. I got it from Zabuza-sama and it's important to me. Isn't that a good enough reason for you?"

"Sure thing!" Naruto chimed happily. "I was just curious, that is all."

Some time later, within the village  


She woke up with a loud groan, her whole body in pain. At first wasn't she even able to think straight, to grasp her situation or figure out who or where she was. It took her several minutes before she actually managed to open her eyes, to try to at least make any sense of her situation beside of the pain in her body, that seemed to radiate from her back through the rest of it.

But all she saw was white and nothing else. Again it took some time, but she eventually figured that she was laying or her stomach and the white she saw actually was the pillow her head rested on. With this realization she turned her head to the side, only to exchange the white with a wall that didn't gave her any more information. But now she reacted quicker and turned her head towards the other side, exchanging her vision with the image of a typical... her head started to ache trying to figure it out.

"An inn room...?" she asked herself, not even sure if she had spoken or not. But her head worked good enough to piece it together. There was a second bed, she figured she was in one too, and a simple table with two chairs. Nothing fancy, all pretty plain. Yes, it must indeed be an inn room.

Now that the question of where she is was answered, even so some details were still missing, did she move on to the next question. Who was she and why was she here. The first was a tough one, her head totally hazy, the pain distracting her from thinking. The second one was an even bigger mystery for her that couldn't be answered without answering the first question.

Figuring that staying put in bed wouldn't help her in solving these questions she turned around, trying to ignore the pain in her body, to lay on her back to increase her field of vision. That sounded like a good first step to her. Her body however had another opinion on that matter and she couldn't help but to scream out loud the moment her back made contact with the bed.

That however alerted whoever brought her to his room as just some moments later the door opened, a man quickly approaching her while taking in the situation and why she had screamed. "Woah there, don't overdo anything. It's a miracle that you're still alive to begin with. No point in trying to finish yourself off here." he scolded her with a deep voice, helping her up into a sitting position to get the pressure away from her back.

She looked back at the man with a dumbstruck expression, her head starting to ache again. That man looked familiar to her, but it was too hard to focus properly. In the end she simply mumbled a quiet "Thanks...", her eyes loosing focus and aimlessly looking around the room.

"Well, it's good that you are awake. Clearly an improvement. Can you sit by yourself?" he asked concerned, carefully taking away his hands from her body. When she neither responded but also not fell back towards the bed did he nod slightly. "Alright. Just wait here a bit, okay? I'll be right back with something to eat for you."

Her eyes focused on the retreating man. She was certain that she knew him, but she just couldn't place him right now.

Once he returned she was able to eat in silence, only now realizing how hungry she actually was. The man, she could tell that he had questions for her, just like she had some for him, was nice enough to wait for her to finish up.

With her stomach filled was the headache also slowly going away, her body distributing the energy needed to the different parts. It was then that she finally recognized the man, her eyes going wide. "You are the barkeeper!" she burst out loud, surprising the man a lot.

"Well, yes, of course. You and your friends were visiting me nearly daily the last month. Though... I'm afraid to tell you that your friend is dead..." he stopped here, waiting for her reaction, not sure how much he should tell her. But she deserved to know, that much was clear to him.

"My... friend...?" she started quietly, trying to remember what happened. Or whom the barkeeper talked about. Or whom she was to begin with. And suddenly did it all came back to her. The fight on the bridge, the accident that lead to her injury by her friend, the Konoha shinobi who let them walk away, how he treated her in a backalley... "Revy!" she shouted out loud, her eyes focusing on the barkeeper. "Revy is... he is... no..."

"I'm sorry, but there was nothing I could do for him. It was pure luck that I found you two in the alley when I closed up the bar in the morning. Or that you survived..." he shook his head. "Look, you should rest for now. That injury on your back is bad enough to still kill you. We will talk later."

Liane nodded absent-minded and pulled her legs close to her body, holding them with her arms and started sobbing. Revy was dead. She didn't knew about Angriff. And not to forget that sick bastard who killed her friend and would have enslaved her if he weren't in a hurry. If she would ever hear his voice again...

Two days later

"Yo." this single word, the sudden appearence of a voice, startled her. She shot up from her bed to check for whoever talked, her eyes landing on the figure of the Konoha shinobi she fought on the bridge standing in the doorframe and giving her a lazy wave with the hand.

"Are you here to finish me?" she asked neutrally. It wouldn't surprise her. In theory she was already dead. It was a fancy part of fate that had saved her life when she was close to taking her last breath. She was prepared to die.

Kakashi shook his head no. "Gato is dead. Most of his men are dead. I just thought you wanted to know these things."

"So you are here to hold me to my word of switching sides, yes?" she asked carefully, her eyes never leaving the shinobi. Her mind was clear by now, her memories back completely. "Tell me, what happened to Angriff? Where is he?"

"The scarred guy you two were covering? He didn't made it." she figured as much and nodded slightly, her eyes asking an unspoken question. "He was beaten by Naruto. You know, the boy in my team. From what I learned was he encouraging him with his last breaths. Naruto said he liked him, despite being his enemy." he ended his explanation, waiting for Liane to react to these new informations.

She looked back at Kakashi in silence, her brain working through the informations. After a few minutes passed she spoke up. "I've to think about it. I'll give you my answer once I'm able to move properly and can leave this place."

"Meet with us at the bridge builders place. One of us will always be at his home. They will be informed." he gave her a smile through his mask and turned to leave.

"Thank you..." she said quietly. "For giving a foolish girl a second chance..."

"Seems to be a bad habit of mine."

At the construction site

It was an image one needed to see themselfs or it was just hard to believe.

Naruto got bored from guard duty pretty quick and, after getting approval from Kakashi on it, walked over to the workers, asking if he could help them out. Everything was better to him than doing nothing. At first the workers laughed at him, telling him off for being to young to help them. Which was something Naruto was not too happy about, so he challenged them. While he clearly had no experience or knowledge about building a bridge, he could at least help out with supportive actions.

One of the workers, still laughing, nodded to him. Still not believing that Naruto could help did he point the boy to a pretty large stone that would be part of the new bridge, telling him to lift it up and carry it further down the brigde to where it was needed. Not one to back down from his word, Naruto tried his best to lift the stone up, and failed, much to the amusement of the workers around.

Grinning back to the workers he did a handsign and was engulfed in a cloud of smoke. Once it settled down instead of one there was a dozen Narutos, silencing the workers in an instant. Having used quite a lot of Shadow Clones during the fight on the bridge, even so they were summoned after each other, he figured he could try and go for a larger group at once and it worked without any problems. Three of the clones picked the stone up and moved it to where it was needed, the other Narutos grinning at the workers.

"Well?" he asked cheerfully, the grin never leaving his face. "What do you say? Guard duty is boring, I need something to do. And you could need the assistance, right?"

"Righto, kiddo." one of the workers spoke, nodding in his direction. "We misjudged you and are sorry for that. Your help is very welcome and appreciated and it will speed things up for us. But don't go complaining on us if you fail and exhaust yourself." turning back to his co-workers he started to yell out. "What are you guys gawking at? The bridge won't build itself with you standing around!"

Some distance away Tazuna watched the situation and nodded slightly, before turning to Kakashi. "I've got to say, the boy has energy. To think that he would volunteer to help us with material transportation... that will clearly speed things up."

"He really is something." Kakashi agreed. "Started his reputation as a prankster. I believe he wanted attention. But after meeting the girls was his energy shifted towards being helpful to others. And the cheery nature he had from the beginning."

"If only my grandson had his view on live and his energy..." Tazuna trailed off a little. "Speaking of, how's the search going?"

"Would be easier if I had any trail to begin with. My partners are doing there best, but as it stands do I doubt that we'll find any signs at all." he shrugged a bit. "Your family could be anywhere between here and the village you sent them to. Or anywhere else at all. Without any clue about where to start looking at..."

"I know, I know... it's just... building the bridge feels kinda pointless to me if my family isn't here with me." he let out a long sigh. "Anyway... thanks for looking. I mean... you know..."

"No need to appology again. We know that you lied, that you are paying not enough and we still decided to stick around. Let's just finish this thing for good." Kakashi replied neutrally, not sure how often he would be hearing this appology in the near future again.

Tazunas house, yet another day

A knock was heard at the front door before the house was silent again. It took a while before sounds could be heard on the inside, clearly identifyable as someone nearing the door. Another moment passed before it was opened a little bit and a head peeked out of it. "Yes?"

The people standing on both sides of the door looked at each other in some sort of shock, both not having expected to see the other at exactly this place. The woman on the outside was the first to catch herself, shaking her head a bit to clear it. "Is that you, Haku?" she asked in a gentle tune. "I was told that someone would be here, but... I wasn't expecting to find you at this place."

The expression of the girl standing behind the door and peeking her head out changed into a smile. "Lia-chan! I'm so glad that you are okay. I mean, I heard that you survived, after being nearly dead, after that stupid Organization showed up, after..." she started into an endless sentence, happiness overwhelming her.

"Calm down, will you? I'm happy to see you again too." Liane smiled slightly. "I was told by the Konoha shinobi to show up here once I made up my mind. But to think to find you of all people here..." she trailed off.

"Ah, yes, of course." Haku nodded in understanding. "Please, come in then."

Opening the door completely she motioned for the mercenary to enter the house, before quickly closing it behind her. It was a quick walk into the mainroom where the girl motioned for Liane to sit down. "They are currently out. Tazuna-san and the Konoha shinobi are at the bridge together with Zabuza-sama. Uhm... I'll be right back. Just a moment, okay?" and with these words she hurried deeper into the house, leaving Liane behind.

Liane took the time to look around the room with nothing else to do. It was a pretty normal home she figured, any additional observation was cut short by the return of Haku. They exchanged a quick smile but remained silent otherwise before Haku started to work in the kitchen area. Unsure whether or not she should ask what would happen now, her pondering was cut short again by the sound of another person nearing the living room.

Hanabi entered the room, her feet not leaving the floor at all, a big blanket wrapped around her body. She walked towards the table and took a seat opposite the mercenary, pulling her feet up on the chair and the blanket closer to her body. Once she found herself warmed up enough her eyes moved to their ex-opponent. "Hey..." she said quietly.

Having watched the girl the whole time Liane couldn't help but to ask the first question that came to her mind. "What happened to you?" she spoke in surprise. "Last time I saw you you looked pretty lively and energetic."

It was Haku however who answered that question when she came back into the living room and placed a cup of warm milk in front of Hanabi, an appolegetic smile on her face. "Uhm... let's just say that masters Water Style and my Freezing Mist are a good combination to get someone gravely sick..." the Icestyle user explained in short, before taking a seat as well.

Hanabi took a sip from the milk and shuddered slightly, before giving Liane a nod. "That's one way to put it... anyway... Spooky said you might show up here." she spoke quietly, adjusting her blanket a little.

"Well, yes. He did... offer me a second chance, sort of." Liane replied vaguely, not sure how much she should or could tell this young girl. She sure knew that this girl was a shinobi, part of the team they fought at the bridge. But this girl couldn't be much older than ten years old and, even so she wouldn't admit it loudly, she had reservations to involve such a young girl into serious business.

Letting out a sigh Hanabi nodded slightly. "Yeah, he tends to do so. I think he's just too lazy to actually fight and prefers to talk his opponents into a peaceful solution. You are far from the first person to be on the receiving end and, I don't know how he does it, he seems to be succesful quite often." she confirmed the suspicion Liane already had.

"I figured as much. It is the best explanation for Haku-chan being here to begin with." she replied with a smile, sending a blush on the black haired teens face.

"...told you to not call me that..." Haku mumbled quietly, averting her eyes.

Releasing another sigh Hanabi shook her head, before fixing her eyes on Liane. "So... are you going to speak to me now? Or am I not good enough for you?"

Another week later

"You sure this is okay?" Kakashi asked, standing together with his team just outside the village.

"Yes, I'm sure about it. I wasn't honest with you in the beginning and you all did way more for me than you had to do, so..." Tazuna started, still feeling uneasy about the whole situation. It turned out okay in the end, he was aware of it, but he still tricked these shinobi. That and the situation changed a lot since the death of Gato.

"Don't worry so much. We worked something out, so it will be fine." Zabuza spoke up, standing near Tazuna together with Haku and Liane. "And to be honest, our agreement isn't the worst. Better than the one we had with Gato anyway."

Tazuna gave a slight nod. "It's the best solution. You guys showed me that I should be able to trust them and even my men started to accept their presence. And since they needed something as well..."

"And we are thankful for that." Liane chimed in. "A roof over our heads and something to eat in exchange for protection of the construction site. It's kinda... ironic, I have to admit, after all what happened."

"I'm sure everything will work out between you." Kakashi agreed before adressing Tazuna again. "About your family..." he started, seeing the mans head drop "...we will send a message if we hear something. But again, without any information to start with..."

"I know, I know, it's just..." he let out a long sigh. "I just want to know what happened to my daughter and grandson. It can't be that nobody heard anything, can it?"

"As I said, if we hear something..." Kakashi gave an eye smile. "Alright, we are leaving now. Take care."

After the goodbyes were exchanged the groups parted. Tazuna together with the ex employees from Gato went back towards the construction site. It was a mutual benefical agreement they came up with, with Tazuna housing them in his home in exchange for protection of the bridge and his men. The time they had together after the fight and the influence from Kakashi brought him to agree to it. If anything else, at least he knew that they were good fighters and capable of handling any sort of attacker.

"Well..." Naruto spoke up a while after leaving. "That was an intresting mission. So many things happened, we made new friends, were away for quite some time... being a shinobi is great!"

"You only say that because your injuries were all gone within a day or so..." Hanabi grumbled, a blanket still wrapped around her for traveling despite it being a warm and sunny day.

"I really wonder..." Kakashi spoke up, a smile on his face. "...if you are suited to be a kunoichi if you are complaining about a simple cold so much."

She glared at him in response. "A simple cold? You know as well as everyone that they nearly froze me to death out there!"

"And Haku was there to care for you afterwards, Hanabi-sama." Hinata interrupted, trying to calm her sister down a little. "Plus, it's nearly gone by now, right?"

"Not fair to gang up on me like that..." Hanabi pouted, letting her head hang. "Next time you all can be the ones to receive such a treatment. Wanna see how you do if you are nearly frozen..."

"Oh, it isn't too bad. There was this one time in the Land of Snow..." Kakashi started, but was quickly interrupted by Naruto.

"...which ended with you talking everyone into becoming your allies, cause you were too lazy to actually fight, right?" a wide grin on the boys face.

"...is this really the image you got from me?" he asked, slight irritation in his voice.

"There was C..." Hanabi started, a grin on her face as well.

"...and Liane-chan on the bridge..." Hinata added thoughtful, a finger on her lower lip.

"...and don't forget about Zabuza!" Naruto finished, the grin still on his face. "You see, Spooky, all we have ever seen from you is you being lazy and just talking to your opponents."

"Maybe I'm just sick of killing?" came his serious reply. "If I may remind you, all of got your first kills during this mission. You totally fine with that?"

The reminder was quite blunt and it worked like a charm, as all three genin became silent. During the fight of the bridge was not much time to think about this fact, as Zabuza showed up quickly after they rescued the captured workers. And afterwards it became a real chaos. Once that situation was solved did all of them manage to not think about it as there were other things to do. Naruto helped the workers, Hanabi was busy ignoring Haku and all her advises in regards to her slave and Hinata did whatever she could to help out whereever she could.

But now had all of them time to think about it - and as a positive side effect for Kakashi did he have a pretty peaceful travel back towards Konoha.


End file.
